The Way of the Hyuuga
by Enchantable
Summary: After taking a hit for Tenten, Neji's Curse Seal attempts to activate and keep the secrets of the Byakugan. In a desperate attempt to save his life and protect the Clan the Elders undo a decision and bring a dark secret to light that could save or damn hi
1. Chapter 1

Hiashi Hyuuga looked down at the young man in front of him with a heavy heart. From what Gai had told him there had been an ambush and Neji had apparently thrown himself in front of his team mate, using his own body to protect her from an attack. The young man's chest rose up and down erratically as his lungs struggled to breath. Despite the cool temperature of the room his skin burned and the sweat was bright the brow of his too-pale skin. The blood loss had been damaging to say the least. His dark hair was spread out like a stain, if his temperature didn't go down soon the healers said they would have to cut it off. Bandages seemed to cover most of the exposed skin whereas the bandages he usual wore were gone. The Curse Seal on his forehead glowed softly. He was close enough to death that the mark had been trying to activate, to keep the secrets of the Hyuuga locked away from the rest of the world. He was closer to being dead now than he had been all those years ago. Hiashi had managed to deactivate it but unless Neji improved soon the Seal would keep trying to activate.

Unexpectedly the light flared and Neji let out a hoarse cry, his body arching on the bed. His fingers dug into the sheets, the IV pumping fluids and blood into him came dangerously close to dislodging. Hiashi dove forward, pushing him back down as he made the hand signs. It took more Chakra this time, to keep the Seal from doing what it was supposed too. If he didn't hold him down firmly he was going to injure himself even more. He looked down to see red seeping through Neji's bandages, staining the fabric a bright red where he had pulled the stitches. A sound of protest was pulled from Neji's throat, but whether it was in protest to being kept alive or being held down by his uncle Hiashi couldn't say. Slowly Neji opened his eyes, confusion apparent in them. His lips were dry with the fever, his voice had gone when he was screaming during the healing. He was obviously disoriented. His lips formed the word no less, the desperate plea that Hiashi couldn't have ignored if his life depended on it. It only seemed natural that he would call him father in his current state. Even years after it had happened Hizashi's death still had a lasting effect on him. Hiashi looked away but Neji's voice seemed so broken that when he repeated the desperate plea there was nothing that Hiashi could do to sooth the him. Suddenly Neji seemed far less like the more capable adult he was and much more like a child. He seemed fragile and Hiashi found himself hating that. Suddenly the name on his lips was that of his team mate as he struggled again.

The sound of footsteps pounding on the floor echoed across the hallway. Healers burst through the doors, racing in. He caught a flash of blond hair that he identified as the Hokage while he saw the Uchiha's pink-haired team mate and her blond friend. Even the Hokage herself was there to try and save his life.

"Father," Hinata touched his hand gingerly which he realized was in a death grip on his shoulder, "you need to let him go."

Hiashi gave a nod and stepped back. The healers swarmed over Neji's prone form. Instantly monitors were attached to his body, a mask was placed over his face as the healers scrambled to do what Neji's broken body could not. The Curse Seal flared and he quickly did the hand signs to calm it down. It took more Chakra this time. With the aide of the healer's Neji's face relaxed fractionally as the Seal stopped glowing. Tsunade was barking orders but Hiashi couldn't understand what she was saying. When the blond haired Ino cut apart the bandages to reveal the mess of wounds Neji's chest had become Hiashi looked away. His eyes found his eldest daughter, there to help as best she could.

"Hinata," he said looking at her. His daughter met his gaze with her own lavender eyes and he felt pride swell up in him under the fear, "I'm going to show you the hand signs to fix his Seal," he said doing them slower. Hinata watched before copying, careful to hold her hands apart, "I need you to hold it while I see if there's something to be done."

"Yes father," she said bowing slightly.

He nodded and swept out of the room. In the hallway he caught sight of Neji's team. Gai gave him a nod, the worry in his eyes obvious. Next to him Lee looked like he wanted nothing more than to go to pieces over the state of his friend but he was determined to stay strong. His gaze turned to the girl and he realized who Lee was staying strong for. Tenten's hair had come out of its buns, falling to her shoulders in a mass of waves a bit lighter than Neji's hair. The front of her white shirt was stained with blood from when his legs had given out and he had sagged against her. Her scroll was on the seat nearby, in fact, all their weapons were. He realized that Neji's team hadn't gone home before coming, hadn't moved since they raced into Konoha with his body in Gai's arms like some kind of sacrifice. Tenten was clearly the worse off. She covered her mouth with her hands in a vain effort to stifle the sound of her sobs. Lee had one of his arms around her shoulders, talking quietly to the girl obviously trying to console her. Whatever he was saying wasn't working because all of a sudden she shook her head and grabbed the scroll before tearing out of the hospital as fast as she could, her feet echoing on the floor. Lee seemed to fold into himself, his arms wrapping his arms around his head as if this was somehow his fault. Hiashi knew it was no-one's fault but it still did not help matters.

Tenten on the other hand couldn't bear the thought of being so close to Neji while he was dying. It was her fault he was in this position at all--and she had no idea why he did it. she had been fighting just fine, holding her own against the enemy Ninjas who were attempting to attack them. One of them had used a suicide attack and she heard someone call out her name. Before she even had the chance to run Neji had thrown himself in front of her, the brunt of the attack hitting him. She had been completely frozen as Neji barely managed to turn around. Once his eyes had confirmed that she was, in fact, alive his lips had curved into the barest of smiles and in a heap of off-white robes slowly turning red with his own blood, Neji had fallen into her arms. Gai found her screaming his name, desperate for him to wake up as his breaths got fainter and fainter against her neck. It was a good thing that the mission had been completed because he doubted a Ninja within a hundred feet hadn't heard Tenten's cries. They had raced back to Konoha as fast as they could, desperate to save their team mate. Gai had to physically restrain Tenten or he had no doubt that she would have gone with Neji into surgery. After hours of waiting only to have Hiashi step out with an expression so grave after healers had raced inside Tenten finally snapped. She'd never wanted to be a medic but at the moment watching Hinata, Ino and Sakura race into the room she would have done anything to be with them. Lee told her that this wasn't her fault, that Neji knew what would happen and did it anyway. Before she knew what she was doing Tenten stumbled to her feet and raced out of the hospital, barely managing to grab her scroll in the process.

Turning Hiashi headed for the Hyuuga compound, intent on finding a way to fix this problem. If the injuries Neji had received didn't kill him then the Curse Seal activating certainly would. To any outward eye he was simply the Head of a Clan working to keep one of his prized members alive. Neji was a prodigy, a brilliant fighter and one who must survive. He and his brother had also both been unusually gifted. He frowned, his thoughts had not gone to Hizashi in some time now. It would be a lie to say they were close near the end of his brother's life. In fact, they had not been close for some time. When he had died Hiashi had been guilt ridden but the world did not allow him time to grieve. It couldn't. He was the Head of the Clan and the Clan had just narrowly avoided yet another disaster. After all that had happened in the end Hiashi Hyuuga couldn't protect his baby brother. He knew closing himself off was a mistake but it was one he had made none the less. And the ones to bear the brunt of it were three innocent lives that had somehow been hurt by his foolishness. Hiashi had to focus on keeping his face blank as he pushed down the anger. Wallowing in regret would do nothing to save Neji. He knew that Hianta was capable of staving off the Curse Seal, she had always been capable especially when it came to protecting the others.

"How is the boy?" he turned to face one of the Elders, his great-something uncle who he suspected was holding onto life out of sheer spite rather than an actual will to live.

"His Seal continues to activate," he said, not bothering to tell the Elder that Neji was far from a child, "Hinata is watching over him."

"I see," the Elder nodded.

"I must try to find a way--" Hiashi began but the Elder cut him off.

"We need to speak now," he said leading the Head into a meeting room. Hiashi felt his stomach churn in the realization that this was the very room that the his brother had decided to sacrifice himself in. It was filled with Elders and he imagined the Fifth Hokage would be there as well if she was not in the hospital, "we have not spoken of this matter in a very long time because we never thought that there would be a need. Though Hinata's progress has been excellent the coming years will be trying and we cannot have anyone but the best lead the Hyuuga. Not if we are to survive."

"And what would you suggest?" Hiashi asked, trying to get the image of his eldest daughter's forehead branded with the Seal out of his mind.

"We withdraw our earlier decision concerning Neji," the Elder said, "we, the Council of Elders, grant you permission to remove Neji Hyuuga's Curse Seal and allow him to claim his rightful place as your eldest son and true heir."

"Now?" Hiashi felt as though the air had been sucked from the room, "you come to this decision now after all these years?"

"Now that war with Akatsuki seems imminent the Clan needs a leader that is capable of ensuring the continued survival of the Hyuuga Clan. That leader is not Hinata," the Elder spoke firmly.

"We have thought on this matter for a long time," another Elder said, "we feel this would be be--"

"No. Hizashi is--or was--Neji's father," his voice was steady even as his heart thudded in his chest, "I will accept Neji as my successor as his uncle, no more."

"Then he will not be allowed to rule this Clan," the second Elder said, "only a child of the Main House can rule."

"Why now?" Hiashi demanded, "after all these years why bring this to the light now?"

"Because now there is a need for a strong, capable leader, one who will bring this Clan safely through the upcoming danger. Neither of your daughters is ready to do that. Your relationship with the boy has improved greatly," he added as though this would make things easier.

Hiashi stared. 'Relationship' really just meant that he was no longer afraid Neji was going to kill his daughter's or him in his sleep. It mean that he sparred with him occasionally since he had taught him almost everything. But it was not as if 'relationship' meant that they enjoyed each other's company or that Neji would seek him out with any problems. Neji went to his team mates or Gai if he had too and only if the situation was truly desperate. In fact, the only person that Hiashi had seen Neji show genuine closeness to was his bun-haired team mate. And now he was being asked to overturn a decision that had been made all those years ago for the sake of the Clan. He supposed it made sense that it would be for the sake of the Clan that the decision was overturned. He hadn't meant to sleep with his brother's wife it had been one night fueled by too much liquor. The truth was that sometimes the Byakugan was not passed on. Wives of the Main House were carefully selected and the arranged marriage that his brother had did not have a wife considered suitable. She was a social climber and seemed to be under the mistaken impression that seducing him and bearing a child would give her access to the Main House. That one night had been the final straw in his relationship with his brother. The brother that had always saved him, right until his last moments. The Elders found out, as the Elders do, and agreed that Hizashi would father the child in all ways except one. They were Twins, his brother and he, so even if the child were identical to one it would be impossible to tell which one that was. So he went along with it, for the Clan, for himself, for all the wrong reasons.

It had been penance to him, the torture he deserved for what he had done. He watched his son be raised by his brother. He branded the boy with his own hand. There was an old saying in Konoha that the only thing unstained about the Hyuuga Clan were there eyes. He had never felt that statement was more true. Something had died inside him. He couldn't bring himself to care for the two daughters that came into the world, Hinata who looked so much like his wife that it hurt to look at her or Hanabi who his wife had given herself for. He had watched his eldest daughter struggle without trying to help, watched his son grow to hate the main house and done nothing to aide either of them. It was only he after he watched Hinata and Neji try to kill each other that he changed. it was like a slap in the face to hear him talk like he did, to see him want to kill Hinata desperately enough to try and get past the Examiner. He knew the few other Hyuuga in attendance were wondering why he didn't activate Neji's Seal and end the battle. But Hiashi could not. After all he had done he could not just kill him like an animal that needed to be put down.

"You will do this," the first Elder spoke up, "like you have done everything else. Because this is what is best for the Clan. You are the leader and you cannot be selfish, especially when it concerns your personal matters. When the boy is well again bring him before us to have his Seal removed."

"I'm afraid if he does not have his Seal removed sooner it may be too late. He is close to death and his Seal his activating attempting to protect the secrets of the Byakugan."

"Very well. See if the boy can be moved."

"i will," he said, though the words stuck in his throat. He turned and walked back towards Konoha hospital, not even bothering to bow to the Council. If he did the tears he was just barely holding back might fall.

**AN**

**Idea got into my head. Should i keep going with it? if not I'll take this down in a few days.**


	2. Chapter 2

"Well enough for transport?" Tsunade raised an eyebrow, "why does he he need to be transported?"

Hiashi sighed and tried not to show the Hokage how close he was to giving into the urge to hit something as hard as he could. She obviously was not going to try to keep him from saving Neji but the Hyuuga's reputation was far from spotless, his reputation was far from spotless. They were standing in Neji's room, the Hokage still too concerned to leave the young man behind. Now there was talks of poison flowing through his veins. His skin was, if possible, paler than before, his hair was a dark stain hanging over one shoulder. They turned him on his side to reach the exit wounds that decorated his spine like a tattoo. On his forehead the Curse Seal seemed to taunt Hiashi with its flickering. He wanted to make the hand signs and remove the damn thing himself if that was possible. The rest of his face was blurred by the oxygen mask. He was having trouble breathing now, they said and they would have to put a tube down his throat if he didn't improve soon. It was so odd to look at Neji as he truly was after all these years. He had never allowed himself to before but after the decree by the Elders it seemed he could not stop.

His eyes rose fractionally to the indigo haired woman behind him. Head bent in concentration, Hinata carefully pulled power away from the Seal. Just behind her Hanabi waited to do whatever Hinata needed her too. What would become of them? He had always resented his parents for having two children, for condemning one of them. He had vowed a long time ago to not be like them but it seemed he had become worse. He had a daughter to replace the son he thought he could never acknowledge and another daughter to replace the first he thought could never be the Heir. Now it seemed that two of them wold ear the Curse Seal. If they were injured would their fate be the same as Neji's? His stomach rolled at the thought. Neji twitched slightly as the Seal struggled to activate but Hinata ripped he power from it, disabling it with a speed that made even Hiashi's head spin. He looked back at the Hokage.

"He needs to be moved," he repeated firmly.

"He's not ready to go anywhere," Tsunade said, obviously unfazed by his gaze, "whatever your planning to do needs to be mobile because if he's moved now he'll die."

"If he's not moved now then he's as good as dead anyway," he said, "the Seal will kill him."

"And whose fault is that?" she demanded, her eyes sparking.

"Its not a matter of fault," he said gritting his teeth, "what's done is done. I would like to remedy the situation and keep him from being killed by something that is not his fault."

"All the same, he can't be moved," Tsunade repeated, "the damage to his body is far too great. If he's moved now he will die. Even the slightest jostling will result in his death."

"If he stays here he's going to die," Hiashi repeated, his frustration creeping into his voice, "I may be the Clan Head but I cannot convince a bunch of old fools who have not left their homes in ten years to take a stroll down to the Konoha hospital. Now I don't care how much it costs or who I need to get but he must be moved to the compound immediately."

"You're going to remove Neji's Curse Seal," Tsunade said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Its the only way he'll survive," Hiashi said with a curt nod of confirmation.

"But that would mean--" she looked over at Neji and then back at Hiashi.

Hiashi remembered Jiraiya formally turning down the position of Hokage, stating that Tsunade had the brains for it more than he did. Hiashi had never been more certain of the truth in that statement when sudden understanding flared in her eyes. He almost longed for the Third who ruled the village but let the Clans deal with their own madness. Against all protocol Tsunade grabbed his sleeve and yanked him out of the room and into another empty one. He realized belatedly that it was to protect his daughters from things they should not hear. Her eyes locked with his and Hiashi found that he could not look away from her heated stare, her anger pouring off her.

"Is Neji Hyuuga your son?" she demanded. He nodded, "why would you--" she shook her head, "I knew you could be a bastard, but I never thought you could be this cold."

"Its not as simple as that," he said turning away.

"Then explain it," she snapped. He said nothing, "don't make me order you too because I will," she threatened.

"Do not threaten me," he returned angrily.

"Your son is fighting for his life. Me threatening you is the least of your worries. Now what the hell happened? How did this happen?"

"You cast off your name," he said. Tsunade nodded. What use did a Sanin have for a Clan name? "no-one really cares about it. But what if that was something you saw in the mirror everyday? A Hyuuga cannot be anything but a Hyuuga. There is no choice. Everything you are belongs to the Clan."

It made sense Tsunade supposed. Her Clan was old, so was the Uchiha but the Hyuuga was their ancestor. The Clan had been around since before the First Ninja War, their line began one generation after the founder of the Shinobi world. The alliance between the Senji and the Uchiha may have given birth to Konoha but the village would hardly be where it was if the Hyuuga hadn't joined. Their Clan was powerful enough that they did not exist in the world where fighting was everything. One glance was enough to stop wars. The Branch House was a relatively new thing in the Hyuuga world, barely a few generations old. There had always been a group to protect the Head of the Clan and his family but that was hardly uncommon. Hiashi looked over his shoulder at the door that led to the room where Neji was before looking back at Tsunade.

"If you're in charge how the hell did this happen? Did you not want him? Your about to disown Hinata because she's not strong enough."

"I would not disown my daughter," he said, shame coiling inside him, "I did want him, more than anything, but I was the new Head. Having a child with a woman who was not my wife was not an option. My brother's wife was not considered 'appropriate' for bearing the future Head of the Clan. What happened was a mistake followed by many more. The Elders were clear that the child would either be killed or raised by my brother. We were identical so even if the child were the spitting image of me it would be impossible to tell. We were forbidden from mentioning it.I agreed because I would rather the child have a life than die because of my mistakes."

Tsunade crossed her arms and glared and suddenly Hiashi knew that was not going to be enough for her.

_The Hyuuga Elders looked at the two young men sitting in front of them with cold ivory eyes. They were identical except for the fact that one wore traditional long robes and one wore the cloths of a Jonin, his vest still on. He had a band tied around his forehead to hide the shameful mark while the other had his bare, showing his loyalty was first and foremost to the Clan, that the Village came second. A bit farther back near the wall a woman wearing a simple robe knelt, her downcast eyes betraying the fact that she was not, in fact, a Hyuuga. The slight swell of her abdomen under her robe revealed the reason they were all gathered, the reason the Hokage was not there. He might be able to understand some things but this was not a matter for Konoha, this was a matter for the Hyuuga and the Hyuuga alone._

_"This is disgraceful," the first Elder spoke, "we have not survived this long, we have not risen this high, to have it undone by your foolishness," he glared at the young Head of the Clan, "this child will not bring down the Clan."_

_"We have two options," a second Elder said, "the child is raised by Hizashi as his own," he looked at the brothers, "or we remedy the situation."_

_"We what?" Hiashi's head flew up, his eyes wide with unconcealed horror._

_"We have not survived this long by allowing things like this to occur and not be taken care of. The child is raised by the woman's husband, your brother, or there will be no child at all," the first elder spoke as though this was the simplest thing in the world. _

_"But," Hiashi stared at them, "but this is a child! An innocent life that should not have to suffer for my foolishness--"_

_"Perhaps this will be a valuable lesson to you," the Elder returned, "that as the Head of the Clan your decisions are not your own. They do not affect just you but all of us, from the eldest to the youngest. Thats why this Council was created."_

_"This Council was created so you could have power!" Hiashi shouted, "and now you want to tell me that I either give up my child or the child will be killed?"_

_"Yes," the second Elder said, "even if the child possesses the Byakugan, which there is no guarantee he will, his heritage will be disgraceful. A child born out of an affair with his brother's wife is hardly worthy of leading the Clan. Your twin will be the child's father. Even if he is identical to you he will simply be identical to his father, your brother."_

_Hiashi's head was spinning. He looked desperately over his shoulder at the woman who kept her eyes on the ground, shame staining her cheeks red, before his eyes were pulled to the swell of the child just beginning to show. Would he too grow to be as bitter as Hizashi had become? Would he hate him like his brother now did? And what if he did have the Byakugan? What if he was strong enough to lead the Clan despite their protests, despite everything? So many questions, so many answers that he knew he would not like. The choice was already made, he knew that much. He did not want the child to suffer because he was a fool. He looked over at his brother who kept his eyes firmly on the ground, his lips pressed into a tight line. He knew Hizashi harbored nothing but contempt for the woman he was forced to marry. Even so she was his wife and it was yet another thing Hiashi had taken from him. He hadn't spoken to his brother in months and now he was expected to raise a child that was not even his. He knew Hizashi never wanted to have children. He did not want anyone to know the shame of being a Branch House member, of living a life not belonging to you. It seemed that fate had other planes for the young of the of the twins._

_"I will allow the child to live," Hiashi said finally, "if my brother agrees to raise him--"_

_"Your brother has no choice in the matter," the first Elder snapped._

_"Hizashi--" he began._

_"As you command, Head of the Clan," Hizashi spoke, his voice thick with bitterness as he bowed in front of his brother._

_"Raise the child," Hiashi said, his voice coming out much hoarser than he would have liked, "as your own."_

_"Then this matter is solved," the first Elder spoke as if this had changed everything, "we will not speak of this again."_

"He took Neji as his own," Hiashi concluded, "even if he had never wanted to have a child," he sighed, "Neji was born and Hizashi raised him. He was Neji's father in every way but one."

"What's made the Elders change their mind?" Tsunade asked her voice softer marginally, "after all these years?"

"They think Neji's the best one to lead the Clan. But the Seal will activate and kill him eventually unless they remove it. Neji's had it for so long that it will be a delicate process."

"Has it been done before?" Tsunade asked.

"No," Hiashi admitted, "this has happened before but no Branch member has ever become a member of the Main House before."

"Its going to take at least a day," she said finally walking over to the door, "I'll use that time to see what I can find--"

"You cannot be involved," he said, "this is a Hyuuga matter."

"This is your son," she spun around, her eyes flashing dangerously, "we are past the point of what can or cannot be done because of your precious Hyuuga protocol. I've heard stories about what you used to be like about the man you used to be and it always confused me as to how you became like you are today. Why you let the Clan act like they do. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because you got permission to act like Neji's father that you're suddenly the only person who cares for him. I am going to find a way to help him and you can inform your precious Elders that this is not just a matter of the Clan. This is a matter of Konoha."

"Why?" Hiashi demanded, "Neji is talented--"

"Neji is more than that," she said, "Neji makes you and your brother look like a joke. He is a valuable asset to Konoha and I will not stand by and let him be tortured further by you and your Clan," she said, "can the Seal continue to be dealt with for another 24 hours?"

"I think so," he said.

"Good," she turned to go, "I suggest you use that time to figure out what you're going to say to him."

It hit Hiashi like a ton of bricks as the Hokage closed the door that he was going to have to tell Neji the truth again. It had been hard enough telling him about how his brother had died but this was going to be much much worse. How was he supposed to tell the young man who still hated him that he was his father? What in Kami's name was he supposed to say? Oh Neji, I'm sorry for being a complete asshole for most of your life but hey, guess what, your father's not actually dead he's right in front of you. Somehow he thought that it would only make things worse for Neji and the Clan. He wondered if this would be enough for Neji to actualy kill him. Something told him that it just might be. Its not as though he didn't deserve it. In fact, at the moment, Hiashi thought it might just be better if he went and killed himself, saving everyone else the trouble. And what about Hinata and Neji? He was just starting to warm up to the role of being her protector. He had seen the two of them in the training field as Neji helped Hinata with one of the finer points of Gentle Fist. How would his daughter's react when they found out he had a son? That Neji was not in fact their cousin but their elder half-brother? The world had suddenly become a very messy place for the Head of the Hyuuga Clan.

Back in the room Hinata bowed her head as she forcibly denied the Seal chakra, pulling it away as hard as she could. She had moved to face Neji's front to better be able to see the Seal. Hanabi had fallen asleep, her head cushioned on her arms. Hanabi and Neji had always looked more like their father and his brother than she ever had. Both had the same dark brown-almost black hair and strong features that gave them the appearance of being angry even when they were not. They all shared the same pale skin and, of course, the same Byakugan eyes. Her own turned to Neji. His breathing was erratic, moreso than before. She could see the rapid, unsteady rise and fall of his chest as he struggled to breath through repaired lungs, to force air past a throat that had nearly been split. The mask around his face fogged more rapidly now than it had when they first slipped it on. She saw his lips move under it suddenly. Keeping her hands in the position she bent her head down to try and see what he was saying.

"Tenten."

One word, a name, and not that of his father. She felt her heart tug. She knew her cousin had feelings for his team mate that went far beyond friendship, just as she knew that he would not act on them. It had been so beaten into Neji that he was not worthy. Not worthy of happiness, of having a life of his own, of anything but being a Shinobi and protecting the main house--her specifically. It wasn't fair, not by a long shot. If anyone deserved to be happy it was her cousin. He wouldn't have risked allowing Tenten to become what he felt the women who married into the Branch House became, as second class as their husbands. But she had feeling that Tenten wouldn't mind, wouldn't care about anything except being with Neji. Neji couldn't see that though, he couldn't understand how anyone would want to be with him. Sometimes she wanted to shake him and tell him that he was not the same coldhearted bastard he had pretended he was. She wanted to tell him that she felt safe by him, that she no longer blocked her door at night because she expected him to try and kill her in her sleep. But she hadn't and now he was going to die because of something that wasn't even his fault. It was horribly unfair.

"How is he?"

Hinata spun around to see Neji's team mate and friend Rock Lee in the doorway. He was dressed unusually in a pair of dark green pants and a shirt, obviously unwilling to wear his green spandex with the memory of his friend's blood staining them so fresh. His hands were free of their wrapping sand she could see the scars and bruises that decorated them. His knuckles were almost raw with the constant strain. His hair was also messy and she belatedly realized that he had only gone home to change cloths before racing right back. He had probably slept at the hospital. Though she doubted Neji would admit it she knew he valued Rock Lee's friendship. Initially he had disliked the young man it was hard to stay mad at him for long. Because of his own shortcomings Lee had been one of the people who hadn't treated Neji any differently because he was a Branch member. She knew the two of them had almost an unspoken understanding about the unique challenges they each faced. Even if sometimes Lee got on Neji's nerves and Neji's coldness infuriated Lee the two got along better than Neji got along with most people.

"Alright," she said hesitantly.

"Is there anything I can do?" he asked, his voice still uncharacteristically soft.

"I don't think s--" she gasped as the Curse Seal flared. Neji's body jerked violently. Instantly Lee was by his side, pushing him to the bed and holding him so that he didn't injure himself further. Hinata flew through the hand signs as she pulled Chakra from the Seal and forced it back into submission, "thanks," she said when the Seal was once again not glowing.

"Its killing him, isn't it?" Lee said looking at her, "the Seal," she nodded, unable to lie to him. Lee swore, "he doesn't deserve that," he said, "no-one does but especially not him."

"I know," she said, surprised to hear her own voice choked with tears, "I've been looking and trying but it takes the Elders to do the Seal and its going to take them to undo it."

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset," Lee said, his apology making her feel worse, "Neji has told me of your attempts."

Hinata felt herself blush. She had put the Curse Seal on an old training dummy that was used to simulate certain attacks. Sealing was easy but unsealing was harder. She had made the Seal fade, turn pink and explode but totally removing it was very hard to do. Everything had said that the Elders were needed when the Seal was placed on. Unfortunately the Elders removing Neji's Seal was about as likely as Neji admitting he was in love with his bun-haired team mate. But she had ben trying. Neji had helped her so much with her own fighting that she wanted to help him with the one battle he could not fight alone. When she had been close to perfecting the Heavenly Spin and her father had gotten too frustrated to continue with her it was Neji who had arranged for Tenten to make use of her dull old weapons by throwing them at her until she spun perfectly. Of course when Tenten had ruined the last of Neji's cloths with her new 'Super Scroll' Hinata had quietly left a pair of robes on Neji's desk. Neither had said anything to the other but both had continued to do small kindnesses for each other.

Did you see my father?" Hinata asked looking up at Lee.

"I saw him leaving," he said, "are you alright with the Seal?" he looked at Neji and back at her, "I can go get him or wake Hanabi--"

"No I'm alright," she assured him, "are you okay?" she asked the uncharacteristically calm boy.

"I just want him to be okay," he said looking at Neji.

Hinata nodded, knowing the feeling of being helpless. She wanted Neji to be okay too, they all did.

**AN**

**I know Rock Lee is horribly OOC here but I wanted to show that he really cares about Neji and wants the best for him. **


	3. Chapter 3

Neji was burning.

He could feel the fire twisting, expanding to fill every bit of him. The sickening agony made him beg for death, for anything but the feeling he was currently experiencing. He knew he was bare from the waist up, he could feel the tightness of his skin where the stitches were holding it together under the fabric of the bandages. He had been in the hospital enough to know that he was not there at the moment. There was no burning smell of antiseptic or the odd sensation of the rough cotton sheets. He could hear no beep of monitors either, nothing to let him know if he was alive or simply in hell. It could really be either by his calculation. He could feel the soft surface he was lying on underneath him, the sheets a far cry from what he was used to in the hospital. They felt like the sheets he used on his bed. He tried to speak through a swollen tongue and chapped lips. A rag was pressed to his lips, soaked in some herbal liquid that soothed the skin. A calloused hand that shook with something reached out and cupped his cheek. He could feel the wetness on the fingertips, as if the person had been crying a moment beforehand. He hoped it wasn't Tenten, he didn't want her crying because he was too weak to protect the both of them.

"Get better okay Neji?" came the soft choked plea from his team mate, "there's a lot I want to tell you--" a sound like a sob came from her lips, "just get better, 'kay? Because if you make me spar against Lee I will definitely not forgive you."

He tried to smile, to tell her that even if he was about to die if Lee so much as touched her he was going to come back and haunt him. But his body was unresponsive, he could only lie there as her hand gently withdrew from his cheek, leaving the skin almost cool with its absence. He wanted, irrationally, to snatch her hand back and pull the woman into his arms, telling her everything. He blamed the desire on his fever, besides he had no desire to find out if Tenten's scroll worked close range. What he could not blame on fever induced delirium was the press of lips against his forehead, right where the Seal was. Everything seemed to stop. He felt two drops land on his forehead next to her lips. Tenten was crying over him. His heart tugged painfully. He didn't like seeing her upset, especially when it was over him. It was kind of ironic since the first time he laid eyes on her she was crying by a tree in the playground, her brown eyes full of tears. He had been trying to meditate but the sound of her hiccuping had distracted him. She had managed to get out between sobs that her mother's kunai, the one she had left for Tenten to protect herself with when she was gone during missions, had been thrown up high in the tree by a bunch of boys and that even if her mother wasn't coming back she couldn't very well protect herself without a weapon if they didn't start Taijutsu yet. Neji had climbed the tree, gotten the kunai and given it to her. He didn't know what possessed him but he had gruffly told her his parents had died and that he was sorry for her loss. They had become friends, both happy when they had been placed on the same team.

Friends was probably the wrong word for what they were now. Lee was his friend, Naruto was his friend, Tenten was something inexplicably more. Life without her seemed unbearable. Even if he was a Jonin and sometimes got solo missions or missions with other teams he would think only of her and how she was not there with him. The air that blew across the back of his neck where she usually blocked seemed to be mocking him. She could take care of herself, that much he knew, but he could take better care of her still. He depended on her to watch his one blindspot, she never really depended on him for anything. She knew her weaknesses, she knew how to defend against them. He thought that was part of the problem. Sometimes he wished he were like Naruto's team mate Sai, unfeeling. Maybe then he wouldn't feel the butterflies that beat inside his stomach on those rare occasions when Tenten let her hair down, maybe he wouldn't feel the heat in his cheeks when they landed on the ground in a tangle of limbs during sparring, her very not flat chest pressed against his as they struggled to catch their breath. When that had happened they used to jump apart, now they stayed pressed together, feeling their hearts pound in synch and not wanting to get up and put space between them.

Nothing more had happened. He had been just as shocked, if not moreso, when he did what he did. But he saw the enemy Nin, saw the suicide attack and before he could stop himself he dove in front of Tenten. The weapons had torn through his body like he was a rag doll, creating holes in places that should stay sealed. He was blinded with agony as the world dissolved around him. He barely managed to turn to see Tenten, a look of unconcealed horror and shock on her face. His lips quirked into as much of a smile as he could manage--all the comfort he could give--before the world gave out. He felt himself fall into her and thought he heard her scream his name but it seemed to come from an impossibly long distance away. His next conscious thought was of the fever inside of him. His head heart, his Seal obviously trying to finish the job and protect the precious secrets of the Byakugan. He ignored it, focusing instead on the familiar presence of the woman beside him.

"Good luck Neji, just try to hold on okay?" she said, before her presence was gone.

Hold on to what? He wasn't going anywhere, didn't they understand that? What the hell was going on? He heard Rock Lee say something soft to Tenten, something along the lines of how everything was going to be alright, how everything was going to get better. He was confused. Get better? He was unaware that their lives needed to improve. Of course there were things he would change, there were things they would all change but the idea of that actually happening was as inconceivable as him being named the Head of the Clan. The door closed softly behind her. He heard footsteps approach whatever he was lying on. The pain was pushed aside as he struggled to focus on what the hell was going on. He could recognize that most of the people gathered there were Hyuuga, If that were true then he wasn't in the hospital but in the compound. He was in the room where his father had died, where he had found his father's body, where he had been Sealed. So many horrible memories in this room and they had brought him here to do what? To die? Was he already dead? He tried to force some kind of life into his limbs, to ask someone what was going on. All he managed to do was twitch one of his fingers. Apparently that was not enough to get someone's attention because the quiet voices droned on. He repeated the gesture, furious that his body had betrayed him in his time of need. Apparently it was getting revenge for being used as a human shield.

"Will he feel it?" he recognized the unusually somber voice of Gai, his teacher and if he was admitting it, his mentor.

What was he going to feel?

"We do not know," one of the dry voices of the Elders spoke up, "which is why you two are here. We trust that the two of you should be sufficient to hold him down, should the need arise."

"We will be," Rock Lee said, "but Tenten--"

"The girl has been through a lot," he was surprised to hear something almost concerned in Hiashi's voice, "Sealing is traumatic in itself, This will be as well, if not worse."

"We understand," Gai spoke for both of them, "we are ready when you are, Lady Hokage?"

"I am ready to begin."

"Excellent," one of the Elders said, "lets begin."

Neji was about to rip his jaw open to ask what the hell they were beginning and why didn't they need his permission when a cool, very pleasant feeling settled over him. He could feel chakra pulsing through him, infusing his own Chakra with strength. He managed to crack open his eyes a bit, to see the dark wood interior and the white-robed old men standing around, Gai and Rock Lee plainly visible on either side of him in their green. By his head was the Hokage, her head bowed in concentration as her fingertips rested near his temples. Why would the Hokage herself be here when he was obviously well enough to open his eyes? He watched her raise her head fractionally and give a nod to the Elders and Hiashi. Their hands flew through seals, quickly and efficiently, before they clapped their hands together and bowed their heads. Neji was about to demand answers when the seals connected and slammed into him. They were like part of a string with each Elder holding a piece of the jutsu.It was wrapping around him, squeezing him. All the new energy he had been given was going to staving off whatever they were trying to do. His body jerked with the effort of his invisible foe. Instantly Gai and Lee were holding him down, making sure he didn't tear his stitches.

"He's fighting it," one of the Elders managed to say between clenched teeth.

"Let go Neji," Tsunade's voice came.

Easier said then done.

"Relax Neji," Hiashi said, "you have to let the Jutsu work."

"Can't," he gritted out, ignoring the agony in his throat.

"You have to," Rock Lee burst out, "Tenten's counting on you to be okay Neji!"

Tenten. He had to do this, if not for himself then for Tenten. He forced his muscles to relax, to allow the Jutsu to do its work. He had felt something like this before, when he was a child. He knew the feeling of the Seal branded to his forehead. How many hours at night had he traced it, wondering what would posse someone to do that to another human being. His father had bandaged his forehead both to hide the Seal from the world and to make sure his son didn't scratch his skin raw. Neji had continued to hide the Seal and to keep himself from spending his days tracing it with his fingers. The Seal was as much a part of him as his Byakugan or his hair. So he recognized the patter the Jutsu was weaving and when it settled against the Seal it was like a key turning in a lock. It was not very painful, not as agonizing as the rest of the wounds he received, just unplesant. He felt the Jutsu burn through the Seal, through all the paths it had created that led to every part of him. The symbol of the notion that everything he was belonged to the Clan. He felt the paths painfully withdraw as he felt his forehead ache and the Seal flare in protest. But the attack was less consuming, as if the Seal was loosing its ability. The agony that had taken over his entire being became a sever headache and then a dull throb and then nothing more annoying than a superficial scratch. He felt the weight of the Seal, the weight that had held him since he was a child vanish.

And just like that, as simple as that, Neji Hyuuga's cage was gone and for the first time in his life he was truly free.

The shock of it was enough to make him pass out all over again.

Above him Rock Lee watched the taught muscles of his friend's body relax as the expression of agony on his features turned to first to shock and then to complete relaxation. One of his hands flew off Neji's arm and jammed into his throat, desperately seeking some conformation that he was still alive. It was there, strong and steadier than it had been in the past few days. His chest rose and fell easier too. As the Elders raised their heads Tsunade immediately began barking out orders to the healers waiting outside. She reached out and unwound a roll of bandages, quickly twining it around Neji's forehead. The bandages had always been there to hide the Seal, to hide Neji's shame. Now they were there to hide the fact that he was free of it. The sight of his team mate with a bare forehead was unsettling to him to say the least. His stomach rolled as he wondered what this would mean for them, as friends and as a team. Team Gai was known for overcoming their obstacles and shortcomings. It was just that no-one really expected Neji to overcome this one. But he had. Even if Lee was happy for him he knew that this would present a whole new set of problems for his friend.

Carefully he walked over to the door and opened it. Tenten jumped to her feet, her eyes searching his face for any indication that everything was alright. He nodded, unable to speak and suddenly found his arms full of his bun-haired team mate. He loved Tenten but he knew that neither of them belonged in the world of the Hyuuga, especially not in that of the Main House which Neji had just become a member of. Neji who was not half as cold as he pretended to be and Tenten who was much tougher than she liked to show were supposed to be together. He had watched them for long enough to know that. Hell he had been there. He was there when Neji was learning the Heavenly Spin, he explained how to get one's body in the proper position to spin with the least drag and he was there when Tenten dragged him home to help her block the edges of her weapons so that Neji wouldn't be hurt in case he couldn't do it right off the bat. He was there when Neji had almost killed Hinata and Tenten, furious at him, had backhanded him and said she never wanted to see him again. He had become Neji's temporary sparring partner and if he didn't respect the Hyuuga before that he certainly did afterwards. He had been there when Neji had stood before them both, forehead protector in one hand and his Seal exposed to the owrld before he stuttered out an apology for his behavior and promised to improve. Though he had assured Neji no apology was necessary he had a feeling that the apology was meant more for the bun haired girl. Now what would happen to them?

The healers walked out bearing the stretcher that held Neji. Tenten caught a glimpse of him but it was enough. He looked better but still so weak. it was her fault that he was in this position in the first place. If she had been better or stronger or something he wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself like that. Why had he done it? It wasn't as if he returned the odd feelings she had for him. She used odd because it was really the only way to describe how he made her feel, how her heart pounded and her stomach fluttered and it seemed like the world had stopped moving. She knew they could be something but she would rather have his friendship than have him do something like he just did. She didn't want anyone sacrificing themselves for her--no, she amended, she didn't want him sacrificing himself. And what now? Now his Seal was gone, now he was going to become Head of the Clan. Would he have time for his old Genin team now? She highly doubted Team Gai had any place in the quiet, soft-spoken world of the Hyuuga, especially in the life of the Head of the Clan. His life had changed so drastically. Tenten sighed and resigned herself to the notion that there was no more room in Neji's life for her. At least she had been crying tears of relief before, now no-one had to know they had turned to tears of bitter disappointment, of a girl who cried for the boy who unintentionally broke her heart.


	4. Chapter 4

Tsunade, the Hokage, had thought she was far past the time when things would surprise her. Apparently she had been wrong because Neji Hyuuga did not look particularly thrilled. She hadn't really expected the Hyuuga to do cartwheels or anything but the silence was almost worse. He was sitting up for the first time in a week and the bandages were still on his forehead. He knew the Seal was gone but according to the healers he had requested the mirror in his small bathroom be removed and the rest of the time he kept his forehead covered. She had tried to subtly speed up the process by replacing the mirror but discovered an old hospital gown had been tossed over it. What was more, even though half of Konoha had come to see him he had refused to see anyone. Not even Rock Lee could convince him to let him inside. Tenten--Tenten seemed to have made the decision that staying away was the best course of action. Tsunade knew the girl had blamed herself for what happened and refused to stick around, as if her presence alone would kill him all over again. It was a shame since she had a feeling that Tenten's presence was the only thing that would save him.

"Your vitals look fine," she said examining the chart, "you should be ready to be released in a few days."

He gave no response, nothing to show he even acknowledged her words. Tsunade replaced the chart at the foot of his bed as a soft knock sounded on the door. She knew who it was, only Hinata could knock and sound timid at the same time. She looked at Neji expectantly but he made no move to permit the young woman entry. His eyes remained locked on the wall. Tsunade walked over to the door with a grumble and pulled it open to reveal the young woman. She was dressed very simply in a t-shirt and pants, a bouquet of flowers in her hand. Her indigo hair was pulled back into a ponytail. Unwilling Tsunade's eyes were drawn to her covered forehead, searching out any sign that they had branded the young woman. Thankfully she found none.

"Is he alright?" Hinata asked, her voice soft but free of the stutter, revealing how comfortable she felt around her cousin.

"Physically he's alright, I think this is a shock to him," Tsunade said.

"I imagine so," Hinata replied, "may I visit him?"

"If you need me hit the call button," Tsunade said.

She walked out. Hinata looked at her cousin with a heavy heart. She hadn't seen that look on his face since his father died, the look of such helplessness it broke her heart. For a moment she wanted to turn and run away but she resolutely reminded herself that this was important. Squaring her shoulders she walked into the room, placing the vase with the flowers she had on the window sill. The splash of color seemed to mock the paleness of the room and for a moment she wondered if she should have gotten paler colors. Shaking her head she turned around to face Neji. He was still perfectly still, as though by not moving he could stop the world. She walked over to him and stood next to him.

"Neji?" she asked softly. He made no move to acknowledge her, "it's good that your up," she tried again, "we were all really worried about you. Especially Tenten, she's been--" she stopped, wondering how much she should tell him, "she's been upset," she finished finally, "and Rock Lee's not as loud as he was, even Gai seems more somber. Lee still won't wear his spandex though, I think he's afraid too," she bit her lip, "I hope you get better soon, Hanabi's trying to learn the Heavenly Spin but I don't think that she's going to get it without Tenten's help."

She waited, hoping for any sign of, well, something in her cousin's eyes. There was nothing. With a heavy heart she turned to go.

"I never thought--" his voice was rough with emotion and disuse, "I never thought it would--" she turned around quickly and was shocked to see his eyes turn to hers, "I don't know what to do now, I don't know what this means--" he looked away, obviously embarrassed.

"Neji," Hinata rushed back over to the bed, "it's going to be okay. I promise, we'll figure it out. You don't have to push us away, we're all here for you."

"I don't know what to do now," he looked at her, his eyes almost fearful.

Hinata reached forward and touched the back of the bandages. Neji flinched away but she leaned forward and quickly severed the knot. Reaching into her pack she got out the small mirror she carried sometimes, thankful it was there. Knowing he would never take it she quickly held it up and showed him his bare forehead. Neji's eyes widened in shock at the sight of the bare skin, his fists clenching in the blankets. Hinata imagined it was one thing to be told the Seal was gone, it was an entirely different thing to see it actually gone. Hesitantly one of Neji's hands lifted, his fingertip reaching up to brush against the bare skin of his forehead. Hinata saw the first tear slip down his cheek which was quickly followed by another. Neji was too overwhelmed to be embarrassed. She doubted he even knew he was crying. And he wasn't, at least, not in the traditional sense. He wasn't sobbing, his chest wasn't heaving, the only indication was the tears that slipped down his cheeks. The Seal that had defined him as much as anything was gone. He didn't know if he was even 'Neji' without it. It would be like Naruto without the Fox. He almost wanted to go to Hiashi and get it back. He had learned to live with the Seal, but now it felt like someone had stolen something from him. Like the cage had become a home and now he was locked out. Hinata wished Tenten was there, Tenten had always been able to deal with Neji when no-one else could.

"You'll be okay," Hinata promised, "and we'll all be here to help you. You're still you, even without your Seal."

"But _why_?" he touched his forehead again, "why would they do this?"

"After you took the hit for Tenten, your Seal kept trying to activate. Father and I stopped it but he had to go and get permission from the Elders to remove it and then Tsunade helped us move you before the Unsealing."

"He didn't want to loose his precious prodigy," Neji said, his eyes going hard.

"I don't know Neji," Hinata bit her lip, "he was really worried," she sighed, "he looks very tired, I don't think he's been sleeping."

It was only respect for his cousin that made him tell her he didn't particularly care if Hiashi Hyuuga jumped off the Hokage memorial. He had trained with the man because he had something to teach him but Gai was his real teacher. He obeyed him because he was the Head of the Clan, not because they were related. He imagined that there had been a time when he and his father had been close, they were Twins after all, but that time was long passed. Gai was more of a father figure to him than his own uncle was. His mother wasn't an issue, he didn't know anything about her beyond her name. It was not as if people spoke of her and when they did it was rarely something good. He sympathized with Naruto who always had the whispers going after him. He had guessed why before, they all had, but he could never figure out what his mother had done that was so horrible. He supposed it didn't really matter now, after all even if he knew it wouldn't change the fact that she was dead. As for Hiashi, well, the easiest thing to say was that Hiashi was confusing to him. There were times when he thought the man viewed him as a manifestation of everything he regretted doing in his life and there were times when he would look at him with something like egret in his eyes. He supposed that both were due to the fact that he looked very much like his father and therefore like Hiashi himself. But he couldn't really bring himself to care.

"Father!" Hinata got to her feet quickly. Neji smiled grimly, of course he would come to see him. He had to protect his investment. Hell he was probably there to re-Seal him.

"Hinata," Hiashi inclined his head slightly, "I need to speak to Neji alone for a moment."

"Of course," Hinata nodded and walked out, leaving the two men alone.

Neji had to grudgingly agree with Hinata that Hiashi looked terrible. The part of him that was still a bitter child cheered inwardly for the suffering of the man who had caused him so much pain. The more mature part of him was slightly concerned. The way Hiashi was looking at him, the regret and sadness in his eyes, he half expected the elder man to break down and cry. For a moment neither of them spoke. He supposed he should get up and bow or something but he felt as though his limbs had been weighted down by led. He doubted he could have moved if he had to. His eyes darted over Hiashi, searching for any sign that the Head of the Clan was going to pull out a scroll and he was going to have another life-changing revelation in a hospital. Hiashi slowly met his eyes, looking like he wanted nothing more than to run away from the room.

"What I am about to tell you has been kept a secret for many years, for your sake and for the Clans. I only ask that you hear what I am about to tell you in its entirety."

Neji nodded his consent.

Twenty minuets later he stumbled to the bathroom, emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet. Hiashi's words were burned into him, marking him far more than the Curse Seal ever could. Whatever he thought he was going to hear, whatever he thought was going to happen, the thought that _that_ was even possible was so unfathomable to him. His father hadn't died, his father had been there all along. No, Neji corrected himself, that man was only his father in a biological sense. Hizashi had been his father, in every way that mattered. The room seemed to tight, too small for him. Before he could stop himself he tore out of it, ignoring the surprised shouts and the odd looks he received. He must have looked insane. Careful, proud, controlled Neji was running down the street in the white shirt and pants given to the hospital patients with his hair streaming behind him and the place where his IV had been still bleeding. But he didn't care, he couldn't care. Not about how he looked, not about how he felt, not about the heat the dirt ground held from the burning sun, not about anything except putting as much distance between him and Hiashi as the borders of Konoha allowed.

Instead his feet took him to the grave yard he had stayed away from for most of his adult life. He had watched Gai's rival, Kakashi, spend hours talking to graves. Neji knew he had better things to do than talk to people who couldn't talk back. His father's tombstone was a marker, his body wasn't even there. The Ninja's from the Land of Lightening had demanded it as payment. His tombstone was simple, a piece of stone a few shades darker than the Byakugan, with his father's name and the date of his birth and his death on it. Neji fell to his knees in the soft earth of the grave. The tears that had been falling steadily increased tenfold as a raw pain sliced through his chest that he knew had nothing to do with the still healing wounds. The last of his control was gone as a sob was torn from him. He hadn't cried like that in years, not since before his father died. But here he was, desperate for him to come back and tell him what the hell he was supposed to do now. His fingers dug into the ground, searching for the stability his life suddenly didn't have. His body folded onto itself as he sobbed, his dark hair falling down to mix with the ground. He wanted nothing more than to have him there, to have him tell him what he was supposed to do now, now that it seemed everything had been a lie.

He would have thought that if there was a day when he got his Seal removed he would be happy. Instead he felt lost without it. And he had always assumed that even without the Seal he would be a Branch House member. He remembered Hinata's words about how they would all be there to help him, how he wasn't alone. He wondered if the fact that they were far more closely related than he thought before changed that. People had commented on how he looked like his father, how Hanabi looked a lot like her father as well while Hinata was the spitting image of her mother. He supposed it made sense, he did look a lot like his father, his father just happened to be the _other _identical twin. It suddenly occurred to him that this meant Hanabi and Hinata were actually his half-sisters. His stomach rolled at the thought that a few short years ago he had tried to kill his younger sister, that there was still so much distance between them despite the efforts from both to close the gap. His sobs quieted as the tears he thought couldn't stop slowly dried. The water on his face was colder. He realized that the sky had joined him in his sadness. The thought of going back to the hospital was unbearable, as was the idea of sleeping at the Hyuuga compound. That left really one place. He didn't want to, not if she was avoiding him, but he needed too--he needed her. So slowly Neji got to his feet and made his way over to Tenten's apartment.

Tenten heard the knock on the door. Putting down the bottle of polish and the rag she was holding she walked over to the door. She pulled it open and was faced with the sight of a very wet, obviously distraught Neji Hyuuga. He looked like he had been crying and there was dirt on his knees and hands. Wordlessly, because what was there to say?, she led him into her apartment. He went with her, his lips equally silent. He looked so lost. She had seen the look on his face twice before, once when his father died and the second time when he found out the truth but both those times had paled in comparison to this. She guided him over to her couch and grabbed a towel from her closet, wrapping it around him. Somehow his head came down to rest against her shoulder. She felt the hot tears slipping down his cheeks and she wondered if he knew he was still crying. Reaching up she wrapped her arms around his shoulders, ignoring the feeling of the wounds she was responsible for. He seemed too tired to sob, like he had cried as much as he could. She could feel his breath evening out against her skin as exhaustion caught up to him.

Something inside of her was very very happy at the prospect of Neji Hyuuga sleeping in her bed but she stubbornly pushed it down. He was a friend in need of her at the moment, this was not the time to give into her inner fangirl. She guided one of his arms around her shoulders and stood up, shouldering some of his weight. She led him into her bedroom and helped him onto the bed. Ducking into the closet she yanked down a pair of sweatpants that she had stolen from him when she ruined her last pair and handed them to him. She slipped out and let him change while she got the first aide kit and washed her hands.. When she came back he was sitting on the bed, bare from the waist up. Though she wasn't a medic Nin, she knew his bandages should be dry. Getting out her supplies she quickly set about re-bandaging his wounds with clean, dry gauze. When she was done she helped him lie down. They had slept side by side during missions and something told her that if there was ever a time he needed comfort it was now. Grabbing a pair of shorts and a shirt, she ducked into the bathroom and pulled them on, taking her hair out of it's style, letting the heavy waves fall to just past her shoulders. She pulled open the door and walked back over to the bed, slipping under the covers next to him. His eyes were open and looking at the ceiling. She turned and careful not to jostle any of his injuries, wrapped her arm around him, putting her head on his chest. She breathed in and out steadily as his chest slowly picked up the rhythm. She saw his eyes flutter shut. Reaching upwards she wiped the tears on his temples away. She knew she should go and tell someone that he was here, that he was safe, but she couldn't bring herself to move from Neji's embrace.

**AN**

**Whoops! Didn't mean to make Neji cry THAT much but hey, wouldn't you if you learned Hiashi was your dad? Wonder how morning's gonna go in Tenten's house huh? You'll find out soon! **


	5. Chapter 5

The predawn light streamed through the open window onto Tenten's eyes. The young weapons mistress sighed and shifted, swearing all kinds of pain on her team mate for starting their training so damn early. Something silky brushed against her collar bone. Tenten forced her eyes open and looked down to be greeted with the object of her previous thoughts. Even though he was much taller than her she didn't think she had ever seen him look so little. He was curled against her like a cat, his head on her shoulder and his dark hair falling across them hiding his face. She reached out and with the barest of touches pushed his hair back exposing his face. His bare forehead looked strange without the Seal, like it was missing something. She didn't realize how accustom she had become to seeing him with it or with the bandages he usually wore to cover it. His eyes bore the tell-tale signs of how hard he had been crying. She knew something had happened. The only time she ever saw Neji cry was when it concerned his father and those occasions had become rarer as time went on.

Neji stirred against her before going still again. She could tell that he was awake. Something had happened, something that was enough to make Neji want to run from his problems. He was fake-sleeping. She thought Neji enjoyed dawn-training. Finally he opened his eyes, lifting his head slightly to look up at her. Even after sleeping he was exhausted, physically and emotionally, that much was clear. he was too tired to even blush at the fact that they were lying so close to each other. She reached out and touched his cheek. He closed his eyes and turned his face into her touch. Panic welled up in her. He was letting her touch him, more than she ever had in her life. Something had happened that shattered her friend like a glass doll. Tenten was on unfamiliar ground. Glass and dolls had no place in the life of a Ninja. She was all weapons and hard, sharp edges. So was he, for the most part, but here he was clinging to her like she was the only thing keeping him in one piece.

"Neji," she said, her voice soft with the remnants of sleep, "what happened?" he shook his head, "Neji," she shifted, bringing herself closer to his face, "whatever it was, keeping it in isn't going to change anything. I'm here, I'm here and I'm not going anywhere," she smiled softly, "whatever happened, we'll get through it together. Just let me help you."

"I don't think you can, Ten," he said softly.

"That's what you said when you were trying to learn all those techniques," she said, "then we figured it out, together," she reminded him, "is it your Seal?" one of his hands flew to his forehead, "it's still gone," she promised.

"No," he said finally, "it's--" he looked away, ashamed at how quickly his eyes filled. She used the hand on his cheek to bring his lavender eyes to hers, "its my father," she nodded, "he wasn't," he stopped, struggling to get himself under control, "he wasn't mine."

"Huh?" Tenten felt her eyes widen, "what do you--"

"Hiashi," he said, "Hiashi slept with my mother, or she slept with him to try to get an 'in' with the Main House. My father raised me because he was ordered too, not because--" he felt his throat close, "not because he wanted too," he hated how the last words came out so desperate.

"Oh _Neji_," Tenten pulled him tightly against her as she felt his body shake, "your father loved you, so much. Don't ever doubt that," she stroke his hair, "don't ever."

She realized what that meant. It meant that all the guilt Neji still held because of his attempt on Hinata's life had just increased beyond count. It meant the hatred he had for Hiashi--for the Main House, had probably just doubled. And, she was not a fool, she knew it meant that Hiashi only would have told him because it had been decided that Neji would be his heir. Tenten tightened her arms around the sobbing young man, loathing the Head of the Hyuuga Clan even more than she did already. She never understood why he manipulated Neji the way he did when he was just his nephew. But now, now that she knew Neji was his son, well, the confusion just go worse. In the far off days when she imagined she would be a mother (yes her 'children' had moonlight eyes), she could never imagine doing anything like that.

Someone knocked frantically on the door. She heard hushed voices and then someone using the spare key which meant it had to be Rock Lee or Gai since Neji was the only other one who had the key. She pressed her lips to Neji's head and gently disentangled herself, getting up and walking out of the room to be faced with the oddest sight. Rock Lee stood there with the key in his hand looking around at the weapons like he expected to see a body. She realized it did look like she had been attacked from the way the weapons were scattered around. Next to him was Hinata Hyuuga clutching a small duffle bag in one hand and Hanabi's smaller hand in her other. Both girls looked almost lost, though Hinata looked like she was trying desperately to be strong for all of them. Tenten took one look in her eyes and realized that she knew everything. Before she realized it she pulled the two younger girls into a hung. Hinata hugged her back, Hanabi stiffened momentarily before hugging her back as well.

"He's here then?" Hinata asked.

"Yes," she said nodding quickly, "he's here," she looked at the bedroom, "I think he needs some," she trailed off, "time?" she tried.

"Of course," Hinata said though Hanabi looked down almost disappointed, "I brought some of Neji's things," she held out the duffle bag, "I thought if he was going to stay with you he would need things," Tenten saw her eyes fill with tears, "like a toothbrush and shoes," she shook herself with a brave smile, "here," she held it out.

"Thanks," Tenten said grasping her hand kindly. She bent down to Hanabi's level, "Neji's not going to be training today. I could use a partner and I hear your close to learning the Heavenly Spin," she smiled, "it its okay with your sister I'll help you."

"Oh can we 'Nata?" Hanabi tugged urgently at her sleeve, "please can we?" Hinata gave Tenten a grateful smile and nodded.

**Break**

Neji waited until the door had closed behind the group to come out of the room. He felt more heartsick than he ever had before, more than the time he thought Tenten was in love with the Sand Ninja with the funny face paint. He felt exhausted. Even walking seemed to take up too much effort. He wasn't sure that was entirely due to the removal of the Curse Seal though, something told him that it had a lot more to do with his heart than his head. The worst part was that underneath his sadness, underneath the weariness, something much darker was going on. Something evil was twisting and begging for blood. That cold voice that had told him to kill them all, to take what was his, it was back with a vengeance. And the worst part was that it made sense, just like it had when he he was fighting Hinata in the Chunin exams.

Hiashi Hyuuga deserved to die.

So many had suffered for what he had done, and for what? Not for Konoha, not for the Hyuuga, for himself, for his personal family which suddenly seemed to include Neji. He felt his fists clench in anger. He wanted to beat him until his arms couldn't move, until the part of him that had screamed out for vengeance on the Hyuuga Head since he was four years old finally was satisfied. Somewhere inside he knew he was being stupid. He knew that he wasn't about to go crazy and try to kill the Hyuuga Clan head but he still desperately wanted too, he wanted too with the same desperation that he wanted everything to go back to the way it was before he threw himself in front of Tenten. It was so much easier to just hate his uncle but like his cousins. Hell he was even beginning to get along with his uncle. Now of course it was a completely different matter.

He had sisters.

The thought threatened to topple him again. He had two younger sisters. Subconsciously one of his hands went up to his bare forehead. What would happen to them? Would they bear the Curse Seal now? _Could_ they do it? He knew when he was little and he got it it was the most painful thing he had ever felt in his life. He was sick for days after having the Seal applied to him. And then he had been young, much younger than either of them were now. How would they survive the Seal? Clearly Hiashi wasn't above putting it on his own children, or maybe it was only the child he didn't acknowledged. He closed his eyes angrily, his hands clenching the lip of the table. Even if he didn't want this responsibility, even if he wanted _anything_ else in the world, he was not going to let anyone touch Hinata or Hanabi.

"Neji!"

Tenten gasped and he looked down to realize what he thought was the counter had actually been one of the sharpened kunai lying on top of it. He lowered his hand in stunned silence, his eyes slowly raising to see Hinata and Hanabi looking at him with a mixture of concern and horror. He realized what it must look like, what he must look like to them. He was shirtless, disheveled and blood was streaming down his palm. Of course there was also the fact that his eyes were red and bore all the signs of crying. Upon closer inspection though, it was clear the two girls had also been crying. Clearly they had some idea of what was going on. It was Tenten, as usual, who knew how to deal with him. Instantly she had a dishrag in her hand and was wrapping it around the bleeding slice in his palm. He saw Hinata wince slightly and remembered that his cousin--no, he corrected, his sister--dabbled in healing.

"Hinata, I've got a first aide kit--" Tenten stopped herself, "here, hold this," she motioned to his palm and the rag, "I'll go get it."

Hinata gingerly wrapped her hands around Neji's bigger one, pressing the makeshift bandage against her couisn--no, she sternly corrected herself, her brother's--hand. Her mind was reeling. Neji. Tortured, guarded, quiet Neji was her elder brother. If she didn't already loath her father she would now. It was hard to remember the time before Neji's father had died. When he had been a wide-eyed innocent child who found all the joy. Growing up in the stifling world of the Main House she had watched her cousin with fascination, unable to understand how someone could be happy. That was before her father had taken away his happiness. Even when got the Seal, though his eyes were confused he didn't seem sad. He seemed to understand his responbility. Then his father's death had changed everything. Then the joy had been replaced with such bitterness it took her breath away. Then he had become a four-year old version of what he had been until he almost killed her. She forced back the bile in her throat. It had been bad enough when her cousin had tried to kill her but now her brother had. She knew it shouldn't change anything but it did. Afterwards, they had become much closer, then they had become friends. Now she didn't know what they were. Neji looked at the ground. If Hinata didn't know him better she'd say he was waiting for it to swallow him up.

"This looks deep," she said turning his hand, "you might need stitches. You were gripping the blade hard."

Leave it to Hinata to turn what could have been a suicide attempt into an accident.

"I was," he sighed, "upset," he finished lamely.

"I'll say," Hanabi snapped crossing her arms, "you've got to get better soon and show me how to Heavenly Spin properly so Tenten doesn't ruin another of my shirts."

"You're just lucky you're short," Hinata returned evenly, "otherwise she'd ruin your pants as well," Hanabi turned her eyes to the ground in the exact same gesture that Neji had.

Hinata looked between them. She had always been told that she looked like their mother. Same indigo hair, same soft words, same everything. Hanabi had always taken after their father. She had always blamed the similarities between Neji and Hanabi on the fact that their father's were identical twins. But there were similarities between them. They had the same glare, the same quiet determination that drove them to constantly prove themselves. They had the same chocolate brown hair that fell pin strait down their backs, even if they wore it differently. She wondered if people saw similarities between her and her siblings. But she hadn't really ever been like Hanabi so she imagined she wasn't that much like Neji either.

"Got it!" Tenten said triumphantly coming back into the room and picking her way through the weapons with a massive first aide kit.

"Thank you," Hinata said as Tenten put the kit down, "here," she led Neji over to the table and sat him down, "here," she pulled another chair over for Hinanta, "I'm a crap healer."

"I think I'm the only healer in my family," she said with a smile, "and I'm not even that good at it."

"Better than Tenten," Neji said looking at the mess of the first aid kit and receiving a glare from his team mate.

"Just wait until you can perform something _other_ than 'Bleeding-No-Jutsu'," Tenten threatened.

"I quake with fear," Neji said, his voice dry and sarcastic.

"As you should," she said smugly.

This she could do, this was familiar. Her prods, his dry responses, they verbally sparred with the same skill that they physically did, although the sight of the latter wasn't nearly as breathtaking as the former. Tenten felt her heart clench at the fact Neji still bore signs of crying. That and the kunai--she prayed he just wasn't thinking. She could understand why he was acting as he did, hell if she found out Hiashi was her father she'd probably be hysterical too. But that was just it. She was always the emotional one. Gai and Lee's emotions went from crazy to extreme, nothing in between. She had always been envious of Sakura and Naruto, at least he expressed something other than insanity. When Neji and she were on missions or even training, he was the quiet one and she was the emotional one. Her new position as the 'strength' of their pair was something that she wasn't sure she was comfortable with but knew that she did not have a choice. Neji had been her strength when she had none and she would be his.

Someone knocked on the door. Tenten frowned and walked over, opening it to reveal not Hiashi Hyuuga as she had expected but a pair of elders, standing side by side with a group of Branch house members. Their moonlight eyes bore into her. While Neji, Hanabi and Hianta's had always seemed so expressive, these eyes were like looking into a sheet of ice. There was nothing in their eyes but the bitterness she saw in many of the Hyuuga's. Her fingers itched to grab a weapon and throw it at them but she had a feeling it would do more harm than good. Inhaling she tried to keep her racing heart down, tried to view them as something not to be afraid of. They were men, not Gods.

"We're here for them," one of the elders rasped.

"You'll have to be more specific," Tenten snapped in response.

"Out of the way _girl_," the elder returned, "we have the Byakugan. We know they're in here and if you do not--"

"If you don't leave I'll have every right to send you away," she hissed angrily, "you're trespassing. This isn't Hyuuga property, its my house and my _guests_ are welcome to stay as long as they would like."

"Why defend him?" the second elder spoke up, "as the heir to the Hyuuga Main House he hardly as time for an orphan with no name or lineage. His marriage will produce children worthy of the Main House."

"Neji is my friend," she snapped in return, "and I'll defend him because he's always defended me. If you knew anything outside of having blood relations you'd know that," she crossed her arms, "now leave unless you want me to tell the Hokage that in addition to almost killing your precious 'Heir' you've also trespassed on the property of an 'orphan' and openly threatened her."

Despite being crazy and very powerful the Elders seemed to know that infuriating the Weapons Mistress was not a good idea. With the promise of more pain and consequence they left, probably to get Hiashi. Even though she knew she was being stupid Tenten thought she'd just repeat the process. One man couldn't be that intimidating, even if he was Neji's father. She shuddered slightly at the thought, the elder's words ringing in her head. A warm, calloused hand wrapped around her wrist. She looked up to see Neji towering over her, his eyes boring into hers. She opened her mouth but he cut her off, a rare thing for the usually silent Hyuuga to do.

"That was a lie," he said, "no matter what I am, what I will be, I will _always_ have time for you."

"Well that's comforting to know," she said, flashing him the most honest smile she had given for two days, "you girl's want to sleep over here? My couch folds out."

"T-Thank you," Hinata said softly, an arm wrapped around a shell-shocked Hanabi, "I think that would be for the best."

"Cool," Tenten said with a shrug and turned to say something to Neji, though the words died on her lips. He was looking at Hanabi and Hinata with the same protectiveness that had been in his eyes before he had thrown himself in front of her. Even though she was glad for his protectiveness, she couldn't stop the feeling that there was no way this was going to end well.


	6. Chapter 6

Tenten was not having a good day.

Between becoming the new residence of the three potential heirs to the Hyuuga Main House, throwing Elders out of her house and her best friend maybe almost killing himself, the return of the storm was not something she needed at the moment.

Neither was the blackout.

"Are you girls okay?" Tenten asked lighting a handful of candles and setting them around the house.

"Yes," Hinata said, Hanabi was already dozing on the folded out couch, head cushioned on Hinata's lap. Neji had already gotten the rest of the candles down from the cabinet and was lighting them, "I don't think Hanabi's going to wake up for anything short of the world ending," she said, her eyes bright with affection for her sister. Tenten smiled faintly and looked over at Neji.

It looked like Neji thought the world _had_ ended. It took Tenten a moment to remember that Neji Hyuuga had _run_ out of the hospital, he hadn't been released. He had also been out in the rain. And then he had lost more blood after he had sliced his hand open on the kunai. Tenten felt the guilt well up in her again. He had been injured because of her. She remembered that she had bee avoiding hi because it was her fault that he had been injured in the first place. Because she was an incompetent ninja. None of this would have happened if she hadn't almost gotten herself killed.

"Ten," Neji called her over. She shook herself out of her stupor and trotted over to him, "are you alright?" he looked over at her.

"I'm fine," she said, giving her biggest smile. It happened to be one that he could see through, "really I--"

"Tenten," he said narrowing his eyes.

"Neji," she looked at the ground.

Neji looked at Tenten. All he could see at the moment was the top of her buns. He remembered that before he had shown up at her apartment the night before looking like he was about to keel over, she had been avoiding him. He wasn't stupid, he knew she blamed herself for what happened. Considering his life had been pretty much shattered and the only thing that made _any_ sense was his team, he couldn't bear the thought of Tenten pushing him away for _any_ reason, even if he could see how she would think it made sense. He grasped her wrist and pulled her into the bedroom, ignoring her shocked inhale.

"Neji--" she began, still not meeting his eyes.

"It wasn't your fault," he said quickly. Her head flew up, her eyes widening, "I chose to take that hit. I know that you would have stopped me," his eyes hardened, "its not your fault."

"But you took that attack for me," she protested, "If I had seen it--"

"Ten even _I_ wouldn't have seen it from where you were," he looked at her seriously, "we're team mates Ten, we watch each other's backs, thats what we do."

"I think that's the most I've heard you say in a very long time," she said with a wonderfully small, crooked, genuine smile, "I'll repay you somehow," she said.

"You're helping my family and me," he said, "I'm the one in your debt."

"Family," she smiled, "you're a big brother Neji," she said.

Neji's heart fairly stopped in his chest. He was. He was a big brother. Sure he was also the apparent heir to the Main House now and the eldest child of Hiashi Hyuuga, but he was a big brother too. The way Tenten said it though, she said it like it was not a bad thing. Like it was a good thing. Like maybe the world had ended but maybe it was also beginning anew.

"I--" he looked at the door, knowing the two girls were on the other side, "I am."

"You know this means you have to beat the tar out of Naruto now," she told him.

"I can beat him," Neji snapped, remembering the last time they fought Naruto almost put him in a bodybag.

"I'm sure," she smiled as the two walked out into the semi-dark apartment.

Night was not awkward. Hinata and Hanabi were asleep on the couch in the main room so Tenten and Neji shared her bed again. Tenten was exhausted and out the second her head hit the pillow. Neji didn't go strait to sleep though. He couldn't. He looked over at the form of his sleeping team mate and found himself quite unable to drift off. At night the joy that usually filled Tenten's face was replaced with a quiet sort of peacefulness. Her hair was always wavy from the buns that she had it in, though he had wondered if it was naturally strait. The waves fell down her shoulders, a few shades lighter than his own even though her skin was a few shades darker.

Neji didn't know why she seemed to be able to make everything better but at the moment he hadn't felt this good in days. He looked at her small form and wondered if he would ever have the courage to tell her that he'd take a thousand weapons for her. That he'd do _anything_ for her. That here, in the small apartment, minus Lee, was his family. He remembered the elder telling her that he would have no time for her and was inwardly furious. He was the product of an unhappy arranged marriage, he wouldn't dare let that happen to anyone else. He was going to marry Tenten or not marry at all.

Now if he could only find a way to _tell_ her.

In her sleep Tenten mumbled something incoherent and turned over. if the bed hand been a bit bigger, if he hadn't been lying on his back watching her, then when she rolled over she wouldn't have landed on his chest. Neji stared, not even feeling the jostling of the bruises on his chest as Tenten shifted slightly to get more comfortable. Her auburn hair fell across the blanket as her body curled around his. With careful movements he worked his arm free so she fit into the crook of his shoulder. Tenten didn't seem to mind, she didn't even wake up. Carefully Neji lifted the hands he used to kill people, the hands that were rough despite their fame for the so-called Gentle-fist. They were large and rough and delicate was not a word he would use to describe them.

Still delicate it what it was when he laid his hand on waist, pulling her lithe body against his. Tenten made a sleepy sound of contentment. Neji smiled faintly down at the sleeping woman in his arms and shifted a bit to get comfortable. He used a bit of his precious chakra and glanced around to make sure no-one was going to come in and hurt his family. Assured of that he powered down his Byakugan and allowed his eyes to close, his arm holding Tenten just a bit closer.

**Break**

"Wait let me get this strait. Neji's your _brother_?"

Hinata bobbed her head. Shino and Kiba traded looks before returning their gaze to their female team mate. Hinata, understandably, blushed before she meekly bobbed her head in response. Akamaru snuggled closer to her in his own silent from of comfort. Hinata reached out and scratched the dog's ears. She knew that she probably shouldn't have told her team the truth but she just _couldn't_ keep things from them. Especially not something like this.

"Wait wait, how do you know?" Kiba demanded.

"My father told me," she said softly, "I've been staying at Tenten's house with Hanabi and him," she hugged her knees tighter to her chest, "I can't go home right now."

"Yeah but, 'Nata, he's your _brother_! Stick-up-his-ass, Main-house-is-awful, I'll-kill-you-bitch-Neji!" Kiba sputtered.

"He's not that bad," Hinata said looking over at him, "we get along now, remember?"

"Yeah but still, your _brother_!"

"What does this mean for you?" Shino broke in looking at her, "your age was the main factor in you remaining the Heir Apparent," he frowned, "if you are no longer the eldest," he trailed off.

"Shut up Shino!" Kiba broke in, "God, you don't have to be so depressing!"

"I don't know," Hinata said looking at the ground, "I guess Neji will be the Head," she sighed and leaned her cheek against her knee, a smile on her lips, "its kind of a relief anyway. He's always been much stronger than me."

"That's not true 'Nata," Kiba cried, "you've gotten way stronger!"

"I'm no prodigy, Kiba," she said, "the Hyuuga family needs someone who can change things and I don't think I'd be very good at that."

Kiba grumbled but said nothing, his hand idly petting Akamaru's leg. The dog wined and nuzzled Hinata's knee. She laid her legs down and he shifted, laying his head in her lap. She scratched his favorite spot, right behind his ears. It wasn't so bad, really, the idea of Neji being her brother. Kiba and Shino were like overprotective brothers already. And she hadn't been lying. She and Neji had become much closer after the Chunin Exams. If she found out Neji was her brother after the Chunin Exams when he tried to kill her, well, she'd probably be a bit more upset. As it was she didn't mind the thought so much. She, Hanabi and Neji had formed a sort of mini-alliance within the Hyuuga compound so they spent a fair amount of time in each other's company.

"And the Seal?" Shino asked.

"Shino!" Kiba practically screamed.

"Its something that needs to be addressed," Shino pointed out.

"If I have to wear the Seal," Hinata said, "then I will."

"No, no, no!" Kiba threw out a hand, "no way in hell are we letting you be Sealed. You or Hanabi. That's not fair! Neji's got his off, you two shouldn't have to wear it! We'll fight any Hyuuga who comes your way. Promise!"

"Thank you Kiba," she said with a smile, "and you, Akamaru," she looked over, "and you, Shino, but I don't want any of you getting hurt because of me," she sighed, "I just hope Hanabi won't have to wear it."

"None of you are gonna wear it!" Kiba snapped.

"Thank you," Hinata said with a smile.

"Hey, Hinata," Sakura appeared next to her, "Tsunade wants to talk to you," she nodded and got to her feet, walking off.

"Hold it," Kiba said, "if Neji's in the Main House now, does this mean he can still marry Tenten?"

"They haven't even dated yet, Kiba," Shino pointed out dryly.

"Well, yeah, but even a blind dude can see that anyone who puts a move on Tenten will get their ass Gentle-fisted faster than they can ask her out," Kiba pointed out scratching behind Akamaru's ear.

"Well its a good thing you have no plans to ask Hinata out then," Shinso said looking over at Kiba.

"Nope," he said with a faint shake of his head, "none at all," he added, his mind thinking of a _different_ set of Byakugan eyes.

**An**

**Woo hoo! Next chapter will be longer, promise. Just getting back into the mode. AN**


	7. Chapter 7

Neji shut his eyes as the warm water of Tenten's shower beat against the tight skin of his shoulders. Tsunade had finished his healing and what had been life-threatening wounds had become simply pink scars. They too would fade soon. Until then he was stuck in skin that felt two sizes two small for him. Looking at the narrow rim of the tub, Neji consulted the handful of bottles that was scattered there.

He knew it was beyond time to shower. Tenten had been very nice but he imagined that sharing a bed with him was becoming unpleasant. Despite having long hair Neji viewed showering as a necessity but something to be done quickly. Tenten seemed to view it as a vacation, a long one considering the sheer amount of bottles on the ledge. Picking one up, Neji wondered if it was really a good idea to smell like coconuts. Opening the bottle he sniffed and frowned, it was definitely the one that Tenten used. He had smelled her hair enough--

"Damn it," Neji hissed, inwardly furious.

Tenten was becoming his, his obsession. He was not an idiot, he knew how the Konoha Teams worked. He was the angsty, attractive, silent man who was supposed to love the standard Kunoichi. She was supposed to kind of like him but end up finding true love with the bright and happy other team mate, his rival. He was not supposed to get a happily ever after. His life was one of servitude, not one of joy. But if his duty now was to lead the Main House, if he was no longer in servitude, did that mean he got his happiness?

"Shit," the door to the bathroom opened and closed. Neji froze, "sorry," Tenten hissed.

"What's going on?" he asked, holding himself very still, the bubbles of Tenten's shampoo foaming through his hair.

"There are Hyuuga's here," she whispered back to him, "Hinata's with her Team, Hanabi went to join her, its just us."

"Ten they can see you," Neji pointed out.

"I know that," she hissed in return, "but if they see me in here with _you_ then they'll know we're not opening the door for a legitimate reason," she sighed, "so don't look."

"Huh? What?" Neji stared as he heard the rustle of cloths on the ground, "Ten--"

"Pretend its a mission--no, think its a mission. The 'I don't want to deal with my crazy family' mission," she said squaring her shoulders, "I'm coming in."

Neji spun to face the wall as the curtain was pulled back and Tenten got in the shower. Tenten had her back to him as well, her eyes focused on the opposite wall. She knew that this was _only_ way to deal with them but still, being in the shower with _Neji_ wasn't exactly what she had planned when she woke up that morning. Desperate to focus on _anything_ else, Neji activated his Byakugan and looked. Sure enough there were three men standing outside the door. Knowing that standing back to back in the shower wasn't going to do anything Neji took a breath in and did possibly the _only_ daring thing he'd ever done in his life and turned around, grabbing Tenten by the shoulders and spinning her around.

"Neji--what the--" the three men outside hadn't deactivated their Byakugans, still unsatisfied, "they're still watching?" Tenten sucked in her breath, "um--okay--" she looked at him, "we have to kiss."

"We have to kiss," he confirmed.

"For the, uh, mission," she said with a weak smile.

Neji's brow furrowed. Was that, was it disappointment he saw in her eyes. He knew he felt it as well, only his was disappointment for the fact that his only reason to kiss her was to escape the crazy family he had.

"No," he found his voice unusually hoarse.

"No, what?" Tenten asked, her brow furrowing, "Neji we hav--"

"Its not just for the mission," he said before he grabbed the back of her neck and crashed his lips into hers.

Tenten's eyes widened at the two-shot. First he said it wasn't just for the mission and then he wiped her mind clear as his eyes so she couldn't even figure out what that meant. All she knew was that Neji's lips were on hers and he seemed to be just as good at kissing as he did at sparring. Against her will Tenten wrapped her arms around him, the water from her shower pouring around both of them. Even when Neji saw the members depower their Byakugans and blush he didn't stop kissing her. If anything it was better because then he didn't have to worry about anything else. He powered down his Byakugan but didn't stop kissing her.

Tenten's fingers danced along the pale scars that decorated his torso. Even if she blamed herself for them he realized he would not trade them, not for what they had gained him. Finally they pulled apart. Tenten's eyes drifted open to look at his, her eyes half lidded and unreadable. Neji opened his mouth to apologize when Tenten raised her head with a bright smile.

"Do you know how long I've waited for you to do that?" she asked.

Twenty minuets later a much happier, much fruitier smelling Neji and Tenten stepped out of her shower. They got dressed in comfortable cloths and stepped into the living room. Hinata may have been a Princess but she was a neat girl by personality and had returned Tenten's couch to its previous state, the sheets folded and placed on the side of it. Tenten smiled faintly and sat down, picking up the weapons she had been trying to sharpen for a long time. Neji sat on the couch, watching her out of the corner of his eye. Tenten flushed faintly under his scrutiny, ducking her head as her fingers worked deftly with the metal.

"You shouldn't stare so much," she said faintly.

"Sorry," he said, her own cheeks heating, "I don't think I've seen you with your hair down before."

Tenten frowned, realizing he was right. He usually saw her with it down when it was out of its buns. Then it had waves. Naturally her hair was as strait as his was, it just happened to be a bit shorter and lighter. Still blushing she reached out and tucked a lock of it behind her ear, her fingers still sharpening the metal that had become second nature to her long ago. She looked over at Neji, wondering how a simple kiss could have changed _everything_.

"Its just easier if its up," she said as she continued to sharpen, "so did Tsunade say when you'd be up for training again?"

"She said I could take it easy tomorrow and see how it feels," he said.

"Hmm," Tenten held up a kunai for inspection, "maybe I should stop sharpening these then."

"Not that easy," he said.

Tenten laughed, Neji and his pride. Neji looked forward, his arms crossing defensively. Tenten smiled brightly and laid the kunai down before she knelt on the cushions of the couch and leaned forward, gently fitting her lips over Neji's. The angle was a bit awkward but he shifted to make it less so, his hands coming up to run through her hair as she held her weight on her arms. Neji leaned forward, his arms sliding around her shoulderblades to support her. Now that they had kissed once it would seem it was impossible to stop. It was like being drugged, like being--

"Greetings my Youthful Stud--"

"Youthful tea--oh my God!"

Like being interrupted by Might Gai and Rock Lee.

The two pulled apart reluctantly to see their team mate standing in the doorway. At the knowledge that Neji was going to be alright Lee had decided his Spandex were due for a revival. Now the two stood in the doorway, though they were not their usual chipper selves. Rather they were suddenly frozen, their faces full of identical jaw-dropped shock at catching their team mates making out on the couch.

"I knew my two youthful protege's would open their eyes and see each others fragrant blossoms!" Might Gai bellowed triumphantly, "your youthfulness has restored the youthfulness Neji lost in battle! Furthermor--"

"We should go," Lee blurted out.

"Lee it is unkind to be so unyouthful!" Might Gai scolded, "just because you are in a rush to collect your winnings--"

"Winnings?!" Tenten screeched.

"Of course," Gai said with a teeth-baring grin, "all of Konoha has been waiting for you two to--"

"You can't tell anyone," Neji snapped shoving himself off the couch and marching over to his two team mates, slamming the door shut and locking them in.

"Why not? Youthfulness must be celebrate--"

"You have no _idea_ what kind of danger that could put Tenten in," he interrupted.

"Danger?" Tenten shoved herself up and marched over to the little gathering, "for your information your family has _never_ scared me."

"Well they should have," Neji returned.

"Well they don't," she hissed, "and furthermore just because I was naked in a shower with you does _not _mean you get to become an overprotective jerk, got that? I'm not going to be sneaking into dark bushes with you Neji Hyuuga I'm not ashamed of what I feel for you and if you are, well," she put her hand on her hips, "well thats just too bad."

Lee and Gai traded looks, feeling like they were standing in the middle of a battlefield rather than in Tenten's apartment. What happened to 'visiting our youthful team mates'? Now the two of them were wondering if they were going to have to grab Neji and run from his angry team mate/girlfriend. Lee was pretty sure that if Neji showed up with more injuries--especially Tenten style injuries--Tsunade was going to save someone else the trouble and just kill him with her own two hands.

"No, I--" Neji stopped, "I'm not ashamed."

"_And_?" Tenten prodded

"You're not going to be an overprotective jerk," Lee hissed to him.

"Thank you I know," Neji snapped before looking at Tenten, "I can't help being overprotective."

"Try," she growled.

"I'll try," he said finally.

"Good," she said before her eyes went to Lee and Gai, "you can't tell anyone about this."

"W-w-w-what?!" Lee cried, very confused, "but that's what he just said--"

"It makes sense," Tenten said defensively crossing her arms, "I just wanted to make sure we understood each other."

"The springtime of youth is blossoming!" Gai said triumphantly before he slung an arm around Lee's shoulders, "we must find you a girlfriend, my protege, so your youthfulness may also blossom."

Lee looked desperately at them. Tenten stepped up with a laugh and put an arm around Lee.

"We're stealing Lee, okay Gai?" she said, "we'll have him back tomorrow."

"Your kindness warms my heart," he said with a teary smile, "I must go tell Kakashi of your wonderfulness! Team Seven will be forever shamed!"

He bounded off. Lee looked between his two team mates, wondering what was going on. He knew the two of them would wind up together eventually but he had always wondered what would happen to him when they did. Would they have room for him in their lives? Or would he go back to when he had no friends.

"Come on and help me," Tenten said sitting on the couch, "Neji's not being any help."

"How un-youthful of you!" Lee scolded, "I will help you, Ten."

"Thank you," Tenten said with a grin as they fell into their easy rhythm.

Before long Neji joined in. The three members of Team Gai sat on the couch and sharpened Tenten's weapons with the easy banter that came with years of being so close to each other. When he left a few hours later Lee wasn't worried about his team mates not having room for him in their lives. He felt very foolish, in fact, for ever doubting them.

Later, after Hinata and Hanabi were peacefully asleep out in the living room, Neji and Tenten got into her bed. Instead of sleeping back to back though, Tenten immediately snuggled into his side, her head cushioned on his chest.

"Am I hurting you?" she asked as he shifted his arm free and wrapped it around her waist.

"No," he said.

"Good," she said, her arm draping across his waist, "did we have our fist fight today?"

"Ten we've fought before," he said.

"Yeah but, I mean, you kissed me," she looked up at him, "does this change things Neji?"

Neji looked at her, wondering what she meant. He saw that she was worried and knew he was feeling nervous too. It was hard, getting something you had dreamed about for so long. Neji knew firsthand. When he got his Seal removed, he had felt nothing but fear and confusion and an almost longing to have the thing that had defined him back. Now he was doing something he had always dreamed about, _not_ just being Tenten's best friend but her lover as well. He was just as nervous but instead of feeling the depression he felt, he felt excited.

"It does," he said honestly. She nodded and looked up at him, "but I wanted them too."

"Me too," she said softly, closing her eyes and hugging him a little tighter.

Neji did his usual sweep of the area with his Byakugan. Satisfied no-one was there he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, a small smile on his face, happy that Tenten was in his arms, not by some sleep induced dream but by choice.

**AN**

**Yays! Hanabi and Hinata will return I promise!**

**AN**


	8. Chapter 8

Though the creme colored paper could not have weighed more than a few ounces it felt impossibly heavy in Neji's hands.

He _knew_ it was from the Hyuuga clan, there was no one else who would have sent an invitation to Tenten's house. He had woken up very early, sensing men outside of the door to Tenten's apartment. He was careful when he untangled himself from Tenten's embrace, brushing a kiss to her forehead and murmuring that everything was alright. Being the highest ranking member of his team, both Tenten and Lee had been trained to follow his orders. Given that he and Tenten trained together even more, she would do it almost instinctively. She had gave a sleepy murmur of consent and fallen right back to sleep.

Given that he was a Jonin and sometimes was sent out on special missions, Neji was excellent at stealth even in every day situations. He was able to slip to the door without alerting the two girls fast asleep on Tenten's pull out couch. Hinata and Hanabi were back to back, each girl curled around one of the spare pillows. Hanabi's dark brown hair was shorter than Hinata's long violet locks. Neji had repeatedly told her she had to pull her hair back, it was always getting in her eyes when she did the more advance moves of Gentle Fist. But she had always refused, never liking the way hair ties pulled at the strands or headbands pinched her ears. Now her violet locks hung unbound across the pillow like a violet stain. Hanabi looked liked him, like _their_ father, but Hinata was the spitting image of their mother.

Pushing the thoughts of their parentage aside, Neji walked over to the door and bent down. On the floor was the pale envelope. He picked it up without even considering what it was but the second he felt the expensive stationary he knew that there was only one place it could have come from. It was from the Hyuuga family. He stood there with the envelope gripped between his hands, his eyes staring at the front before he finally summoned the courage to turn it over and read the back. Printed there was his name. The invitation was for--it was for him. For the eldest son of Hiashi Hyuuga, for the next leader of the Hyuuga Clan. Neji gripped the envelope tightly, his everything inside him wanting nothing more than to tear the envelope in half.

He was not ready.

He was not ready to deal with Hiashi Hyuuga and the revelations that came with the long buried truth. He was only beginning to be ready to look at Hinata and Hanabi as his little half sisters. And Tenten--Neji shut his eyes. The little apartment with its odd smell of metal and spring seemed to be the closest thing to a home that he had since he was a child. The Hyuuga compound had been home, or the small set of rooms that he shared with his father had been anyway. He lived in a different place now, he could not stay there after his father died. Neji's fingers tightened further. His father--his father was Hiashi Hyuuga, not Hizashi. He was an order, not a son. It had all been a lie, Hizashi Hyuuga never wanted to inflict his fate on others, especially not his children and it seemed that he got his wish. Hashi on the other hand, that man seemed to have no problem in condemning his son.

"Neji?" Hinata's sleepy voice came to him. He turned to see her pushing herself up, one hand automatically coming to smooth her violet hair down, "is something wrong?"

"Everything's fine," he said looking at her, their moonlit eyes reflecting the moon that slipped through the window, "go back to bed," Hinata yawned but obeyed.

Neji was torn between going to the bathroom and letting Tenten sleep or going into her room and asking for her help. His feet seemed to make up his mind for him as he slipped into her room, closing the door behind him. He sat on the bed, his fingers still holding the envelope. As always, Tenten did not disappoint him. He felt the weight behind him shift as the she moved towards him finally kneeling behind him, her chin resting on his broad shoulder.

Even if they had only just begun to date the two of them had been together for much longer. First they were sparring partners then they were friends, then they were something between friends and lovers. Her moves involved ariel attacks and his were close range fighting. It was inevitable that their bodies touched on a regular basis. It was not so much a problem when they were younger with flat chests and strait bodies. The first time they had landed in a tangle of limbs and Tenten had been, well, she had been _soft_. Soft in places he hadn't noticed. It had been gradual but one day he had realized that her chest was not flat and her body was not strait, it had curves in it. They had stopped for a full minuet pressed together wondering if this changed anything before he had gruffly said they had to keep going.

Everything was fine until the scorching summer months when training inevitably made it too hot to wear a shirt. Tenten had been wrapping her chest in the stiff bandages girl's used for a while but when they were fighting and he could see--well he could see things that hadn't been there--that day it was the easiest victory Tenten ever got against him. On missions to cold places if they had to camp out they would be close together. His dislike of contact was over shadowed by the fact that hypothermia was a serious condition and that sharing a sleeping bag was the easiest way to avoid it. That and the fact that if he did not share with Tenten he would be sharing with Lee or Gai was quick motivation for him to all but claim his team mate as his bed mate.

Now when she leaned against him and her breasts pressed against his back, he did not jerk or shy away from the touch. But he was aware that it was far more intimate than the fighting brushes. He could see her sleepy brown eyes out of the corner of his and felt guilty for waking her but relieved that she was awake none the less.

"Whats that?" she asked looking at the envelope.

"They slipped it under the door," he said.

"What's it say?" he said nothing, "open it," she said.

He made no move to do so. Tenten's small hands slipped under his arms, fingers just brushing the skin of his side before they touched the envelope. His own fingers seemed to slacken as she took it in her small hands and pulled open the heavy stationary, extracting the piece of stationary inside. His hands seemed to come up out of their own accord, his fingers taking the stationary from her and opening it up. It was written in an elegant, nondescript hand and Neji wondered if it was disappointment or relief churning through him that the hand was not Hiashi's. Especially since the letter was concerning him.

"No."

"Neji," Tenten sighed, her breath tickling the exposed skin of his chest, "maybe you should--"

"No," he repeated flatly, "i have no interest in talking to him," he went to push himself up but her arms wrapped around his chest, holding him in place, "Ten," he began, her nickname contradicting the words he was about to say.

"He just wants to talk," Tenten said her voice low and soft and full of sense that Neji did not want to hear, "this can't have been easy on him."

"Why should I care what this was on him?" Neji demanded turning his head so he caught side of Tenten's poof-less head.

Tenten shook her head, not sure what to tell Neji. While she had never held much sympathy for the Head of the Hyuuga Clan, Neji hadn't seen his face when they brought him to have his Seal removed. He looked so horrible even Tenten had felt her hatred wavering. His eyes had remained locked on Neji as if he was afraid the young man was going to disappear. The rest of the elders had looked unaffected as always but Hiashi had looked truly tortured at what Neji had become. He looked like a father looking at his son, like how Tenten imagined he looked at his brother when Hizashi had sacrificed himself to ensure the safety of his brother and his family. He had been there throughout the treatment to remove Neji's curse Seal. She had felt him use more Chakra than anyone else to destroy the Seal and free Neji. When it was over he had been more drawn than anyone else despite being much younger and stronger. Tenten had no doubt that without him it would have been almost impossible for Neji to have survived or done as well as he did in spite of the treatment.

"You two were getting along so much better before this," she said.

"That doesn't matter," Neji said hotly.

The two of them had been getting along much better but it now when he thought of every moment spent training, every cup of tea they had shared the only thing he could see was the lies. Hiashi Hyuuga had condemned him and then when they finally started to act like uncle and nephew the truth that they were actually father and son came out and destroyed all that. Hiashi had worked so hard with him to perfect his techniques. Tenten was an excellent partner but there were certain things that only a true master of the Gentle Fist could teach him. He had worked with him endlessly, hour after hour even though there was no reason for the Head of the Clan to be the one working with him except for the fact that he was a prodigy. But he had been a Branch house prodigy back then and there was no legitimate reason to receive such attention from him even if he was his uncle. He didn't even work that hard with his daughter--

His daughter.

Was that the reason he had been so hard on Hinata? He had a son he could not acknowledge and two daughters, one who had been born to replace the weaker of them. Had Hinata been his replacement just as Hanabi had been hers? As he had become closer to Hinata and Hanabi he had learned that the two girls were not half as weak as Hiashi painted them to be, especially not Hinata. Even if they were weak though he had never understood why it was that Hiashi could barely look at his daughters. Perhaps it had been because of him, because there had been another child that he could not acknowledge. Neji's fingers tightened on the paper. Was he the reason that Hinata had been treated like such garbage? That was just--that was horrible of Hiashi to do.

Horrible and somehow understandable.

"Talk to him," Tenten's voice was a soft whisper as her forehead rested against his shoulder, her breath slipping down his back like a warm caress, "just talk to him. If you want to beat him afterwards we'll help you."

"You'll take on the Hyuuga Clan?" he asked peering over his shoulder at her.

"Mmmhmmm," she gave a murmur of confirmation, "the Hyuuga's and whoever else hurts you. Your fights are my fights."

One of his hands maintained its grip on the paper while the other reached out and covered the clasped hands on his chest. He felt Tenten's lips press to one of the scars that adorned his shoulders before they gently disentangled themselves from one another. He place the letter and the envelope and the invitation that it held on the nightstand before he lay down alongside Tenten. Her head lay on his shoulder and though he tried valiantly to fight the pull of sleep the gentle rise and fall of her chest was as effective as a lullaby and he found himself drifting off.

**

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Until he stepped out into the hustle and bustle of Konoha, Neji hadn't realized how secluded he had been in Tenten's apartment. It had scarcely been a week since his world had been shattered and he had shown up at her doorstep in a mess of tears, rain and dirt. Now though the day was beautiful with bright blue skies and the warmth that Konoha seemed to wear like a favorite garment. Neji resisted the urge to tug at his own cloths, wondering if there was a reason that Hinata had tucked a change of his usual garb into the bag she had brought over for him. The pale fabric had felt just as heavy as the envelope but he had put it on anyway. The black cloth he usually wore around his waist had been destroyed and he had never kept another on hand. Even so he knew that was not the reason everyone was staring at him.

No one was really sure what to make of the infamous 'caged bird' that had somehow broken free. If he were honest Neji would admit that he wasn't quite sure what to make of himself either. In a handful of days he had gone from being a caged lonely orphan to a man with a family and a girlfriend. A girlfriend who had assured him that the ass kicking he was going to get if he chickened out would leave him with even _more_ scars than he already had. Though Neji respected her abilities, he did not outright fear them. However he knew that when Tenten was infuriated enough she could inflict serious damage. But he saw what she was really doing. She could not come with him, not this time. Their battles might have been shared but he was going to have to face this enemy on his own.

He arrived at the Hyuuga compound, not giving his feet time to slow or quicken as he walked to the compound with carefully measured steps. The moon eyed men looked at him, shock written all over their features before they quickly dropped into low bows. Neji knew the men had glared at him once not too long ago, the built up prodigy. Now he was someone to be respected, all because there was a different blood that flowed through his veins. He walked towards the main house, making sure to keep his pace smooth and controlled. One foot in front of the other, one step in after the other, one heartbeat followed by another. Servants parted the rice screens for him as he stepped into the shaded building. Another branch member stood in front of him and bowed low.

Bowed to a member of the main House.

"They're waiting for you," he said, his voice low and respectful, "this way," he led him down the hallway before coming to one of the meeting rooms the Elders sometimes used, "in here."

Neji nodded as the doors were slid open. Inside were a handful of hateful old men murmuring in quiet voices. Hiashi was there as well, talking to two of them. He looked as impenetrable as always, none of the frantic worry that his friends had told him about. Aloof, cool, his ivory eyes glanced at Neji and then back to the man he was talking too as if there was no reason to say anything to him. ANger coiled inside Neji and for one he was grateful for the emotion. Anger let him focus, anger made him remember that family and home were two words that did not apply to the room and the people gathered in it. No home was a small apartment with Tenten and Hinata and Hanabi, it was not this place with these people.

"You're here," one of the Elders said as the servants closed the door, the sound making Neji think of being locked into a prison cell--or a bird cage, "we can begin then."

"I have no interest in talking to you," he said, surprised at how cold and steady his voice was, "not until I speak to my Uncle."

The elders traded glances but Neji kept his gaze unwavering. He would not speak to them until he talked to Hiashi.

"Stop with this foolish--" one began.

"Get out."

The moonlight eyes all shifted to Hiashi. The order was give with the same cold authority Neji had used moments before. The only problem was that this was from the Head of the Hyuuga Clan and their disobedience would not be looked upon favorably, especially not in light of Hiashi's recent mood with them. They had ordered him to tell Neji the truth, they had destroyed the fragile bonds that wove them together. To say he had no patience with them would be a huge understatement. Trading glances and muttering they all turned and left the room in a slow, infuriated line. Soon it was just Neji and Hiashi standing in the room. Neji was silent as he looked at the man he would much rather kill than speak too. Hiashi turned to him fully, his hands folded neatly none of the furious tension that was written all over his son.

"Explain," Neji demanded.

For the first time, Hiashi did.

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**Okay so, update!  
**

**Truthfully my interest in Naruto has waned...severely. I'm going to try to continue these fics, especially this one, but updates are probably going to be sporadic. However let me stress the fact that if I know people are reading and enjoying a story I tend to update it more. How do you let me know that? REVIEW or you can PM me if you're shy. **

**Sorry about the delay!  
**

**Go green--as in hit the green button and say "hi! I enjoyed the chapter!" or something like that. **


	9. Chapter 9

**Wow so even I didn't expect to be updating this story this soon. But ah well. You all blew me away with the reviews last chapter, keep up the fantastic work! Thank you so so much for all of them. I've fallen horribly behind on review replies but I swear I'm getting there.**

**Um yeah so enjoy the next chapter! I promise the chapter after this one (which will be soon) is gonna have more NejiTen moments in it. **

**There might also be some NaruHina.**

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Hiashi folded his hands and looked at the infuriated young man standing in front of him.

Every inch of him spoke of his desire to put Hiashi in a huge amount of pain. As his instructor Hiashi had no doubt that if he was given the chance Neji wouldn't hesitate to beat him as hard as he could. Fortunately Neji seemed to desire the truth far more than he did to put Hiashi in a world of physical pain.

Hiashi had given Neji as much time as he could. He had only allowed the Hyuuga's to go and try to talk to them, never to enter. The two who had tried to bring his daughters back had not been allowed to leave the Manor. Hiashi knew they all needed time, that his betrayal had shaken the very foundation of their worlds. Hanabi and Hinata were probably just as shaken as Neji. But though the two girls had suffered their suffering was nothing like that of their elder brother. Neji's bare forehead was stark, no headband or bandages or Curse seal to mark him. There were enough pictures in the Hyuuga archives that Hiashi knew that instead of his brother's spitting image now he was his spitting image. Same sharp features, same long hair that was now unbound by anything. Even though he had removed the black fabric around his waist he was still dressed in the traditional Hyuuga cloths, not that it was possible really to escape either being a Hyuuga or the traditions that bound them to one another.

Blood and history and the family had far too much of both. It really was true that their eyes were the only unblemished thing about the Hyuugas.

"What are you confused about?" Hiashi asked.

"I want to know how this happened," Neji said, his voice harsh, "I had begun to believe you weren't the man I thought you were," he continued, pearlescent eyes burning, "I was wrong."

"I had never intended to claim you as my son," he said, "the decision for Hizashi to be your father was made by the Elders and I supported it."

"Then why the _hell_ did you tell me the truth?"

"I wouldn't have," Hiashi replied, "When you were going to die the Elders reversed the decision to allow us to remove the Curse Seal. Unfortunately unless your true parentage was revealed, removing the Seal was not an option," he continued, "it was the only way to save your life and to allow you to be named the next Head of the Clan."

"So that is what I am," Neji said, "a replacement for the daughters who you don't think can do a good job. Tell me, Hanabi was Hinata's replacement, was she mine? If your wife survived would you have had another kid or would you just have found someone else's wife to fuck?!"

"Calm yourself," Hiashi snapped, his voice cold, "I did not train you to be so rash--or so disobedient. Heir or no you are my pupil and I will not have you bring disrespect on this family or yourself."

Neji clamped his jaw shut, hating how he automatically wanted to follow the order. Hiashi walked over to where he stood, as cool and unruffled as they day the two had met so long ago. He had long since mastered keeping his calm, as the Head he had done far more heinous things than talk to his would-be son. To his credit when he stepped forward Neji did not step away, he continued to stand there with his fists balled _glaring_ at him. He knew that Neji wanted nothing more than to put him in a world of pain and though he would have liked to say he didn't deserve it, he knew that he deserved much worse. Instead he came to a stop when he was able to see the slightly pink skin where Neji had clearly been rubbing at the bare skin where the mark no longer rested.

"Good, you both are still alive," one of the Elders said as the old men walked in before either of the younger ones had said anything in way of permission of such a thing, "we have much to discuss."

Neji had a feeling he was not going to be able to stand for much. he had been at a handful of meetings with other Branch members and the things the Elders said--he had to get up and leave once or twice back when he _wanted_ to kill Hinata himself. He left more when he discovered he cared for his cousin. Now that he knew she was his sister, he had a feeling his stomach was not going to be able to take much of the garbage that spewed from their lips. Hiashi seemed completely unruffled by the fact that they had been interrupted. Well the man had branded him and condemned his own brother more times that Neji imagined he knew of. Despite his control he felt his fists tighten. Hiash's eyes darted to the blatant display of emotion.

"Your living situation is completely unacceptable," one spoke up, "the heir to the Clan cannot be living in some apartment where any assassin could come and pick him off," he made a show of his disgust, "and you smell like coconuts."

"My living situation is more than adequate," he said, "assassins pose no threat and if they did there are four of us who are more than competent fighters."

"You will move back into the Hyuuga Compound within the month," the man cut him off as if he had not said anything. Neji's eyes widened but the rest seemed to think that this was how things were done, "Hinata and Hanabi will as well."

"Will they be marked?" he questioned.

"Of course," one of the Elders said.

"They are of the Main House," he said.

"They will not be the Head of the Clan. They are going to be marked."

"They are too old!" Neji protested looking at the Elders, "the Sealing alone will kill them."

The Elders said nothing and Neji found himself dangerously close to being ill. They were willing to throw away Hinata and Hanabi for their tradition. The two of them were excellent Ninja as it was, neither prodigies but both unusually strong. Hanabi could already hold her own against him when he went easy on her and she barely came up to his shoulder. Hinata could actually put up a fight but her strength was of a different kind, the kind that he had only seen in two other people, that determination that one had to stand back and be in awe of. Everything and anything, everyone and anyone who told them 'no' they shoved back with everything they had in themselves. He had sen it in Naruto.

And in Tenten.

Tenten had more determination than anyone else. Even Lee. Lee was determined and hopeful but Tenten, Tenten was not just determined for herself, she was determined for him as well. How many _endless_ hours had she spent on the training field with him back when the only word he knew how to say was 'hn'? He had never even thanked her, just walked away and expected her to be there the next morning waiting to be beaten once again. She had no hope of beating him, no bloodline, nothing but she was _always_ there with her puff ball hair and an excessively large lunch because she knew he would forget to pack his own but be too prideful to accept anything she made for him. So she claimed it was for her first and then make a show of having too much and telling him what a shame it would be to waist it.

Even before he smelled like coconuts or knew what her soft lips felt like against his he had been something in awe of her. She was more human than anyone he had ever met before in his entire life and at the same time unreachable to someone like him. She was always so nice and happy he had always thought she sheltered him in some way. She probably tried to be extra nice to him and the thought made him think he could keep her at an arms length. Until he tried to kill Hinata. Oh she was still at the training field but when he had gone off to fight she had tapped him on the shoulder before giving Neji his first ever black eye and calling him a string of obscenities that he only knew half the meanings of. When he woke up and learned she had witness his shameful actions in the fight and the revelation of his Seal he had tired to forbid her to come to his room. He had even tried to transfer or at the very least delay their meeting. But Tenten, ever resourceful in a world that gave her so little to work with, climbed through the window and shook him awake, screaming that he was the stupidest man she'd ever met in her entire life before crushing him against her chest and telling him if he ever did anything so stupid again she was going to kill him herself.

Of course she never made good on that threat, despite the fact that there wasn't a person in Konoha who would contradict the statement that Neji had done many stupid things since.

But this was not stupid, this was unforgivable.

The Elders were actually willing to sacrifice them for something that caused nothing but suffering. Even if he hadn't truly cared about the sisters, even if he hadn't known that they were _his_ sisters, the thought of them being sacrificed made his stomach role. He knew the pain, the shame of carrying such a mark. If, by some miracle they survived, he doubted their friends would treat them differently but still, they would always know the burden of what that green sign felt like. That unbearable weight that seemed to settle on ones shoulders, heavier than anything they would ever feel in their entire lives. He was just learning to live without the oppressive feeling and though there were many enemies he wished pain too, knowing what it felt like to be free of the burden made him sure that he would never wish it on another person.

"I will not allow it," he said, barely recognizing the low, angry tone that came from his lips.

"That is not your choice to make," one of the Elders said.

"It is," he said, "heir or no I am a Shinobi of Konohan, have protected Lords and villages, I am more than capable of protecting my sisters from a group of old men who refuse to leave the sanctuary of the Manor."

Hiashi turned his head to look at Neji, struggling to keep his features smooth. Neji did not look surprised at the fact he had just referred to them as his younger sisters. Hiashi had seen the three of them acting more and more like siblings than cousin but now that they knew---were Hanabi and Hinata taking the news this well? The moment he had informed Hinata of her true relationship to Neji, she had looked at him with the serenity he had practically beaten into her before calmly excusing herself. She had calmly packed up a few of his things before she left the Manor, Hanabi's hand clenched tightly in hers. He knew his youngest daughter was fiercely independent but she looked very young as the two of them left the Manor hand in hand to make sure their brother had a toothbrush. Hiashi had a feeling that Neji's lack of homicidal behavior towards his cousins was probably very much Tenten's doing. He knew the girl probably had a hand in Neji being there today.

Though he knew the news would be horrible from anyone, he hoped the Elders would let him be the one to tell Neji. Though he was focused on his sisters at the moment, there was another matter concerning Tenten that Neji had not been informed of. Once again, the Elders had just assumed it would not be an issue and just as foolishly Hiashi had listened to their so-called wisdom because that was what was expected of the Head of the Clan.

"The Sealing has not taken place because of the matter of succession," Hiashi spoke up finally, knowing that if he did not they would tiptoe around the subject for hours, "now that you have been named the Heir, the Sealing will be withheld until such time as you are in a position to succeed me and produce and heir of your own."

"Which brings us to the matter of your wife."

Color faintly stained Neji's cheeks.

"We have learned your relationship with your team mate has progressed past friendship," they looked at him, "this is unacceptable," Neji's eyes narrowed, "this is not a matter of our feelings towards the girl, negative as they may be, it is a matter of genetics."

"What are you talking about?" Neji demanded

"She was picked for you for many reasons, her skill being one of them but we had considered naming her your bride," Neji's eyes widened, "but she does not possesses the genetics necessary to ensure the Byakugan would be passed to your offspring."

"You said the same thing of my mother," he said.

"No," the Elder cut in, "we said your mother did not have the genetics to bear the next Head of the Clan, we expected your Byakugan to be significantly less. Any offspring you produce with that _girl_, there would be no chance they would have the Byakugan."

Neji stared. He might have toyed with the idea of marrying Tenten in the hazy far off future. When the thoughts came up he told himself that it was simply because there was no other woman like Tenten and he couldn't imagine that anyone else would put up with him--or he with them--for the amount of time married couples spent in each other's companies. He already spent a lot of time wit Tenten. He imagined that if she was Tenten Hyuuga instead of just Tenten not a lot would change. He'd still call her 'Ten' and she'd still laugh and smile and be far too bright to be dimmed by his world.

Children on the other hand, they were not something he had wanted to even think about. Female Shinobi were not known for surviving childbirth and any children he would sire would known the pain of having the Seal but they would not have what he had. There would be no Gai who didn't care about parentage or special abilities. He would make anyone's prodigy ass jump rope as many times as Lee's non prodigy one. There would be no crazy Rock Lee whose first comment about Neji's Seal was that it was green and green was a most youthful color and they had to go find some green for Tenten to wear or she would feel left out. And there would be no Tenten---

No Tenten.

Neji would not live in a world without her. After seeing what an arranged marriage did Neji did not want one of those either. He might not have been able to stand most women--despite the fact they seemed happy to be with him--but he would not want them to be stuck in a marriage like his father. The solution had been simple. Then he learned he was the heir to the Hyuuga Clan. That was bad enough in itself but now he would have to loose Tenten. No, he was not going to loose her, especially not to the ideals of his crazy family.

"This meeting is over."

Hiashi's eyes widened as he watched Neji turn and walk out. The Elders all traded looks of blatant disapproval. Hiashi watched him leave with a surprising amount of dignity. Neji had always been a natural leader and it had been many years since anyone had shown the Elders such disrespect. Underneath the act of defiance, they could see that they had been right. He did not give them a chance to shout for him or to call him back, he was gone before they could find the strength to demand answers, leaving them quite useless in his wake. In the act of defiance, they could see that they had been right. Neji would become a great leader for the Clan, but it was clear he was not willing to indulge the Elders like Hiashi had been.

"You need to control your son," one of them said to him, "and your daughters," he continued.

Hiashi looked at the door through which Neji had left. There was only one person that he needed to speak to.

That person was Tenten.


End file.
